topic Re: Cover song in Content Questions

Cover song

junkins_T — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 15:52:24 GMT

I want to do a cover of “Bakamitai” to put on Spotify, I’ve seen plenty of covers on YouTube but I figure that it’s a bit different for Spotify (although I’ve seen covers on Spotify of similar stuff), does anyone know if I do an English cover will it breach copyright, meaning I’d need permission from the company, or as long as I write every part and don’t just use the original/official audio (see Cage the Elephants “The Unforgiven” cover) would it not breach copyright, or would I still need specific permission?

Re: Cover song

Taylith — Sun, 28 Aug 2022 20:30:10 GMT

Hey there @junkins_T .

When making a cover, you'd probably need permission from the original owner rather than Spotify.

If possible, you could get an opinion of someone who deals with artist releases on a regular basis.

(I don't know if @geovanebento might offer more advice on what type of content breaches copyright rules)

Alternatively, you can get in touch with the artists concerned and find out from them how you can go about it.

In any case, good luck and you should notify me via this post if you do get to end up uploading the cover to Spotify 🎧🖤

Re: Cover song

junkins_T — Sun, 28 Aug 2022 21:11:51 GMT

I should’ve specified, sorry, it is an original song created for a karaoke mini game in a game called Yakuza, would that be different from an artists single/song? Or should I try to somehow get in contact with the games licensing team just in case

Re: Cover song

geovanebento — Sun, 28 Aug 2022 21:20:23 GMT

Very good Explanation Thylith! Yea! 👏👏👏 To release a re-recording you need authorization and this authorization can come from the author himself, the record company or publisher. The right thing to do is to contact these bodies. You Junkins can also talk to the aggregator who intends to publish the song on Spotify. In many cases, the aggregator obtained the necessary authorizations for the publications.