Dropping a cover into a live set, recording or uploading a cover song, can showcase your interpretive and performance skills. Here’s a guide to permission and rights around covering someone else’s work.
If you are playing a gig and you perform a cover version, you do not need to ask permission from the copyright owners. The licence that live music venues or promoters have allows you to play other people’s music at those venues or promoted events. When you perform a cover version live, you should include it in the set list for your performance report. This way, the writers of that work will receive royalties for their song.
If you want to release a recording of a cover version in physical copies, such as vinyl or CD, then you will need to be covered by an Audio Manufacture Licence from AMCOS. Sometimes, a record company or a company that makes the physical copies will already have a licence, but if you are making the copies yourself you may need to obtain your own licence Audio Manufacture Licence.
By ensuring your physical copies are covered by an AML from AMCOS, the writers of the original musical work will be eligible to get paid as part of the fees paid for that audio manufacture licence.
Within the territory of New Zealand and Australia, major online service providers, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon, are licensed directly by AMCOS for any reproduction (or copying) that occurs on their online services. As a result, the copying of the musical works in your cover version (that is, the written song) is licensed directly by each of the services.
So, you do not need a licence from the owner of the musical work to release a cover version online, even if you want to make money from that cover version. Online streaming and/or download royalties will be collected by APRA AMCOS and paid on to the writers of the work that you are covering.
In most cases, if you want to release your cover version to an online platform (such as Spotify or Apple Music) you will go through a middleman – a digital aggregator. Digital aggregators distribute music to a range of online platforms and can also offer advice and/or licensing solutions when you are releasing a cover version.
If you want to release a cover version for online streaming services in the USA, then you will need to be covered by a separate reproduction licence, which will ensure the original writers are paid royalties. Sometimes, digital aggregators will provide this licence as part of their service, but if you have to get one yourself, this can be done through:
If you want to make a video of your cover version that is for commercial use, then make sure you first obtain permission to synchronise images with the music from the copyright owners and/or their publishers. The APRA AMCOS website has a work search facility where you can find the writers and publishers of existing works.
A licence is in place that allows for cover versions to be synchronised with images on services offering user-generated material, such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, but this can only be for personal and non-commercial purposes.
Do I need a licence to record a cover?
There are a few things you should know about releasing a cover.
Permission
Good news, you don't need permission to release a cover as long as it has already been released by the original copyright owner.
Royalties
Releasing a cover either on a physical product, like a CD or vinyl, or online, requires payment of royalties. If you're represented by a label, they will likely already be covered by a licensing agreement. Check with them to see if you're covered.
Licensing for physical products, like CD or vinyl
For physical releases you need something called an audio manufacture licence, which is available through APRA AMCOS.
Licensing for online release
For online platforms that are already covered by a licensing agreement, like Spotify, you don't need a licence. However, if you plan to release it through an unlicensed platform like your own website, you'll need a licence.
Who gets paid for music covers on YouTube?
YouTube has a Content ID system to scan and identify copyright material. This system includes audio and audio-visual fingerprinting technology, as well as melody recognition for cover songs. The first two types of fingerprinting technologies are far more developed and accurate in identifying sound recordings and visual material (such as in films and TV programs). Melody recognition technology is less advanced and often cannot identify the large quantity of cover songs on YouTube.
Copyright owners can still claim their work manually. If a cover song went viral, it would be up to the copyright owner or music publishers to lodge a claim with YouTube.
What's the difference between a remix and a cover?
A cover is a performance or new recording of a song that was written and previously performed by someone else. It does not involve any significant changes to the underlying musical work.
A remix is a new song that uses parts or samples of a previously written song. It may also contain new material composed by the remix artist.