Like it or not, covers won’t help you develop musically and reach your full potential. Here’s why.
It’s even more or less acceptable when you use musical quotes in your work. Many bands have done this, for example.
And it’s completely unacceptable when you brazenly take an established hit or band and begin parodying it. All sorts of cover bands can serve as such an example.
Imagine you’re reading a review of a book you’re interested in, encountering a ton of quotes and excerpts from it, but the author also adds his own thoughts.
What happens when there are no original thoughts?! The same review will turn into a selection of quotes and thoughts. Thus, you’ll be reading two identical books with striking differences in content. In the first, you can read and understand the structure and ideas, while in the second, everything will be jumbled.
That’s essentially what cover bands do.
They take already popular songs or even hits by other artists and remake them in their own way. Moreover, such bands are supervised by a manager who won’t work for a simple round of applause. Naturally, the songs will be sold publicly, sometimes at ticket prices almost matching the original.
That is, the income comes from the creativity of others. You’re taking money from the musicians you’re paying for, and from the fame of others. In such bands, it’s not the band itself that people love, but the cover art—that is, what they like about the original band. The singer will be bound by the characteristics of the lead singer of that band. He will adapt his voice and stage presence to the star, without developing himself. Musicians often play parts that aren’t their own. They embody thoughts, experiences, and feelings that aren’t their own. You can’t expect the same effect from such a performance as from the original.
Cover songs are perfect for practice. But they should be performed at rehearsals or charity concerts.
You, dear cover bands, would also be offended if a group of a much lower rank began to take away your “bread and butter”.
Please, play at events that don’t involve selling music. Change the lyrics, remove or add famous tunes, parody national musicians. Do everything so that it’s clear that this is a pinch of your creativity, too. But when I see and hear Frank Sinatra’s voice, or Michael Jackson’s singing style, or Sting’s imitation—and the owner of this voice isn’t the real owner—I feel like I’ve been given a book with a beautiful cover, but for some reason, the pages are blank.
It’s impossible to talk about creativity here.
Honest composers and musicians negotiate with the authors before releasing someone else’s work. But even then, the minimum they can do is post the performance online for everyone to see. And they can’t even perform or tour with an “outsider” repertoire.
Our legislation hasn’t yet devised any measures to eliminate or even limit such super-popular groups. Copyright, especially in music, is difficult to regulate and control.
We must take moral responsibility for our own “not quite” creative work.
You can play a theme with a quote from a song; it can even be fresh and interesting. It’s a different matter when an entire piece or even an album is covered.
Do you remember a single band that achieved worldwide fame by playing cover songs? Maybe you know a band that became famous by covering other people’s songs? I don’t know any.
Let’s create something creative, not just copy it.
