Cover Songs
Covers Explained
Cover Songs Explained: Licensing, Copyright & Using Cover Vocals
Cover songs can be confusing, particularly when you are recording vocals, releasing a finished track or trying to understand who owns what. This guide explains the basics of cover song licensing, copyright and royalties for vocalists and producers…
Before you read on
Licensing rules vary by country. The examples in this guide are intended as general guidance rather than legal advice, and some licensing systems differ between the UK, US and other territories. Always check the requirements that apply to your intended release territory.
What Is a Cover Song?
A cover song is a new recording of a song written or originally recorded by someone else. The new performer creates their own recording, while the underlying composition remains the property of its original writers and rights holders.
A cover is different from using the original master recording. If you use audio from the original recording, you may be dealing with sampling or master-use rights rather than simply licensing a cover. That distinction decides almost everything that follows, so it is worth being clear about which one you are actually doing.
Is a Cover the Same as a Remix or Sample?
No. These four get used interchangeably in conversation and they are entirely different rights situations. What you have to clear depends on which one you are actually doing.
Cover
You record the song yourself. New recording, existing composition.
Touches: the composition only.
Sample
You use audio lifted from an existing recording.
Touches: the recording and the composition.
Remix
You modify or incorporate an existing recording, usually working from the original parts.
Touches: the recording and the composition.
Interpolation
You recreate a musical element from an existing composition rather than lifting the recording of it.
Touches: the composition only.
Only the first is a cover. If you are working with a licensed vocal recording rather than recording one yourself, our guide to non-exclusive vocal licensing is the relevant one.
Cover Songs for Vocalists
Recording a Cover vs Releasing a Cover
Recording a cover song and releasing one are two different steps, and the licensing attaches to the second.
When a vocalist records a cover for HitVocals, they are being paid for their recording performance. The commercial release of that recording is a separate matter and is handled by the producer, artist, label or other party releasing the finished track.
Almost every question a vocalist has about covers resolves once that line is clear.
Do You Need a Licence to Sell a Cover Vocal on HitVocals?
Generally, no. When you provide a cover vocal recording to a client through HitVocals, you are being paid for your recording performance rather than releasing the underlying song yourself. The licensing requirements for commercially releasing the finished recording are a separate matter, and they sit with whoever releases it.
What you should do is keep your performance a genuine cover. Substantially rewriting the song is where the position changes, and that is covered in changing the lyrics or melody further down.
Who Owns a Cover Song?
A cover involves two different things, and almost every question about covers comes down to keeping them apart.
The song
The lyrics and music, owned by the original writers and rights holders. Covering it does not change who owns it.
This is the layer you have to clear.
Your recording
The new master you create. The performer or producer may own rights in it, depending on the circumstances and the agreements involved.
This is the layer you make.
A license to use a recording does not give you ownership of the underlying songwriting. Two separate things, two separate sets of rights, and they can sit with completely different people. If you are unsure where that line falls, our license guide sets out what a HitVocals license does and does not cover.
If you make changes that go beyond a standard cover version, you may be able to claim a songwriting credit for your contribution. If that applies, get advice from a music industry professional so the credit is registered correctly.
The same two-layer split governs what a release actually earns, which our guide to music royalties sets out in full.
Cover Songs for Producers and Clients
Releasing the finished track is where licensing actually bites. For most routes to market your distributor has already dealt with it, though not for all of them, and the exceptions are worth knowing before you commit to a release date.
Through a distributor
Usually handled for you as part of the service, often for a small fee. The most common route, and the least work.
YouTube and SoundCloud
Covered by each platform’s own arrangements, on that platform only. Not a licence you can carry elsewhere.
Selling it yourself
Your own site, physical copies, direct sales. Here the licensing is yours to arrange, before you sell rather than after.
Releasing Cover Songs Through a Distributor
If you release through a professional record label or a distributor, cover licensing is usually handled as part of the service, often for a small additional fee added at the point of release. Once your distributor has cleared the cover, the streaming platforms it delivers to - Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, YouTube Music and the rest - are covered as part of that same delivery. You do not clear a cover with Spotify; you clear it with whoever puts your record on Spotify.
| Distributor | Cover licensing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DistroKid | Available | Check current requirements and territories |
| TuneCore | Available | Check current terms |
| CD Baby | Available | Check current terms |
| LANDR | Available | Check current terms |
| Ditto Music | Available | Check current terms |
Always check the distributor’s current cover-song requirements before releasing. Licensing arrangements, territories and fees can change, and a cover licence offered by a distributor generally covers releases made through that distributor rather than acting as a universal licence you can carry elsewhere.
What Is a Mechanical Licence?
A mechanical licence gives you permission to reproduce and distribute the underlying musical composition in a recording. Releasing a cover song is the usual reason you need one.
Requirements differ depending on where and how the cover is released. Some territories operate a compulsory or statutory licensing system for covers, where a licence is available on set terms provided certain conditions are met. Others work through collective licensing bodies. The rules diverge most here, so the territory you are releasing into matters.
If you are releasing through a distributor, this is usually the thing they are handling on your behalf. If you are releasing a cover yourself, it is the thing you need to arrange.
Where to get one
For mechanical licences: services such as Songfile (Harry Fox Agency) and Easy Song Licensing handle these, and costs vary with the territory and your expected sales or downloads.
For performance licensing: contact the performing rights organisation for your territory - PRS in the UK, or ASCAP, BMI or SESAC in the US.
Uploading Cover Songs to YouTube and SoundCloud
Uploading a cover, having it claimed, and being able to monetise it are three separate things, and it is worth keeping them apart.
On YouTube, a cover video will often be identified automatically and a claim placed on it by the relevant publisher or rights holder. In many cases that means revenue from the video is shared with them rather than the video being taken down. That is a revenue-sharing arrangement rather than a blanket cover licence, and it does not necessarily cover every use of the recording elsewhere.
SoundCloud operates its own licensing arrangements with rights holders, which cover a good deal of what gets uploaded to it. As with YouTube, that is specific to the platform.
Neither platform hands you a licence you can take somewhere else. If your cover is also going to streaming services, that release still goes through a distributor.
Releasing a Cover Yourself
If you are selling your cover song directly, the licensing is yours to arrange. That includes downloads from your own website, physical copies such as CDs, vinyl or cassettes, and direct-sales platforms where you are the seller rather than a distributor.
In these cases you will generally need to secure mechanical licensing for the territory you are selling into, before you sell rather than after.
Do I Need a Licence for a Cover Song in a Video?
A commercial video can involve rights in both the music and the audiovisual production. If you are using a cover recording in advertising, film, television or another commercial visual production, do not assume that a standard cover-song licence gives you everything you need.
Synchronisation is a separate permission and it is never automatic. You approach the song’s publisher directly and negotiate terms. Publisher information can usually be traced through PRS, ASCAP, BMI or SESAC databases. Sync fees vary enormously with the song, the project and the territory.
Before You Release a Cover
Most cover problems are avoidable, and they are all easier to sort out before a release date than after one. Six things to run through.
- Work out which of the four you are doing. Cover, sample, remix or interpolation. They clear differently, and getting this wrong is the most common mistake on this page.
- Check who is arranging the mechanical licence. If you are going through a distributor it is usually them. If you are selling it yourself, it is you.
- Check the territory. Licensing systems differ between the UK, the US and elsewhere. Clear for where you are actually releasing.
- Keep the song recognisably the song. Structural changes are normal. Rewriting the words or the tune is a different question, and worth asking before you record.
- Credit the original writers correctly. On label copy and every registration, not just the public track title.
- Register the recording properly. Your own rights in the new master only pay out if the release is registered.
Changing the Lyrics or Melody
A cover is a new recording of an existing song. The further you move from that song, the less the word "cover" describes what you are doing.
If you substantially change the lyrics, melody or underlying composition, you may no longer be dealing with a straightforward cover. Additional permission from the relevant copyright owners may be required, and some compulsory or statutory licensing systems specifically exclude arrangements that change the character of the work.
Structural changes - shortening it, re-ordering sections, arranging it for a different genre - are generally a normal part of covering a song. Rewriting the words or the tune is a different question, and worth asking before you record rather than after you release.
Cover Song Terms, in Plain English
The vocabulary around covers is where a lot of the confusion starts. These are the words that matter.
- Cover
- A new recording of a song written or originally recorded by somebody else.
- Composition
- The underlying song - the lyrics and music - owned separately from any recording of it.
- Master
- A particular recording of a song. Your cover is a new master of an existing composition.
- Mechanical licence
- Permission to reproduce and distribute the composition in a recording.
- Compulsory licence
- A system in some territories where a licence is available on set terms if certain conditions are met.
- Interpolation
- Recreating a musical element from a composition rather than lifting the original recording of it.
- Synchronisation
- Licensing a song and recording for use with picture - video, film, television, advertising.
- Collecting society
- An organisation that licenses certain uses and distributes the resulting income to its members.
AI Cover Songs, Voice Cloning & Copyright
Our current advice
AI music is moving quickly, and there are significant ongoing legal disputes between rights holders and AI platforms. Given how unsettled the position is around AI-generated covers and voice cloning, we currently recommend avoiding AI tools for cover versions.
This applies both to full AI generation and to voice model technologies. Because the legal and platform rules around AI-generated covers and voice cloning are still evolving, releases can face additional copyright, rights-management or platform-policy issues on top of the ordinary cover-licensing questions on this page. We will update this guide as the position becomes clearer.
It is also why every voice on HitVocals belongs to a real person. If you want the full reasoning, read our open letter on human artists.
Common Questions About Cover Songs
The questions vocalists and producers actually ask us about covers, in roughly the order they come up.
Do I need permission to record a cover song?
The licensing questions attach to the commercial release rather than to the act of recording, so recording a cover for your own purposes is rarely where permission bites. If you plan to put the recording out, deal with the licensing for your release territory before you do.
Can I sell a cover vocal?
Generally yes. Selling a cover vocal recording means you are being paid for your recording performance, not releasing the underlying song yourself. Whoever releases the finished track handles the licensing for that release.
Can I sell cover vocals on HitVocals?
Yes. Vocalists sell cover recordings on HitVocals in the same way as any other vocal, and are paid for the performance. Keep the performance a genuine cover rather than a substantial rewrite, and the rest sits with the producer who releases the finished record.
Who owns the copyright in a cover song?
Two things are owned separately. The original writers and rights holders own the underlying composition - the lyrics and music. The performer or producer may own rights in the new recording they create, depending on the circumstances and the agreements involved. A licence to use a recording does not give you ownership of the songwriting.
Do I need a licence to release a cover song?
Usually yes, in some form. If you release through a label or distributor, cover licensing is generally handled as part of that service. If you release it yourself - your own website, physical copies, direct sales - you need to arrange it. Requirements vary by territory.
What is a mechanical licence?
A mechanical licence gives you permission to reproduce and distribute the underlying musical composition in a recording. It is the licence most often needed when releasing a cover. Some territories operate compulsory or statutory systems for this; others work through collective licensing bodies.
Can I release a cover song on Spotify?
Yes, through a distributor. You do not clear a cover with Spotify directly - you clear it with whoever delivers your record to Spotify. Once the distributor has handled the cover licensing, the streaming platforms it delivers to are covered as part of that delivery.
Can I upload a cover song to YouTube?
Yes, and a cover video will often be identified automatically with a claim placed on it by the relevant publisher or rights holder. In many cases that means revenue is shared with them rather than the video coming down. That is a revenue-sharing arrangement on YouTube specifically, not a licence you can use elsewhere.
Can I use a cover song in a commercial video?
Not without a separate permission. Synchronisation - using music in an advert, film, television programme or other commercial visual production - is never automatic, and a standard cover-song licence does not cover it. You approach the song's publisher directly and negotiate terms.
What’s the difference between a cover and a sample?
A cover is a new recording you make of an existing song. A sample uses audio from an existing recording. A cover involves the composition; a sample involves the recording as well, which is a different and usually harder clearance. A remix modifies an existing recording, and an interpolation recreates a musical element rather than lifting the audio.
Can I change the lyrics of a cover song?
Not substantially, without additional permission. If you significantly change the lyrics you may no longer be dealing with a straightforward cover, and some compulsory or statutory licensing systems specifically exclude arrangements that change the character of the work. Ask before you record rather than after you release.
Can I change the melody of a cover song?
The same answer applies as for lyrics. Structural changes - shortening it, re-ordering sections, arranging it for a different genre - are a normal part of covering a song. Rewriting the tune is a different question and may need permission from the relevant copyright owners.
Can I use an AI voice to make a cover?
We currently recommend against it. The legal and platform rules around AI-generated covers and voice cloning are still evolving, so releases can face additional copyright, rights-management or platform-policy issues on top of the ordinary cover-licensing questions. Every voice on HitVocals belongs to a real person, and our open letter on human artists explains why.
Still Unsure About Cover Licensing?
Cover songs can involve several different rights depending on how and where you plan to use the recording. If you are unsure about a particular release or licensing situation, contact our team and we will point you towards the relevant information.
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