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Releasing a cover as a single?


Higgie
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Hi guys, my new band have recorded an EP recently, and we’ve just put our first single on Soundcloud. With it being a cover/mashup, does anyone have any idea what the score is with licensing/permission? 

You can check out the track here if you are interested: 

Thanks!

Edited by Higgie
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When we looked at having a cover on one of our albums we contacted the writer, who advised that permission from them isn`t required - Guns N Roses didn`t ask his permission for a cover of his they released . However I think it needs to be registered with PRS so that the writers get their share.

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19 minutes ago, Ceebass said:

Apologies in advance; I don't have any knowledge of the licensing situation. Great cover though man, the arrangement is super nice!

Thanks very much man :) Glad you enjoyed it!

2 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

When we looked at having a cover on one of our albums we contacted the writer, who advised that permission from them isn`t required - Guns N Roses didn`t ask his permission for a cover of his they released . However I think it needs to be registered with PRS so that the writers get their share.

Thanks for the info Lozz! 

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3 minutes ago, ribbetingfrog said:

If you use services such as distrokid they put the music on several outlets, including iTunes and sort licensing for you.

I think there is an annual fee for licenses.

Yeah we were looking at distrokid and CDBaby. Thanks for your help mate. Much appreciated!

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If it’s just for a single (one track only) and you use CD Baby, they will handle the licensing application for you. Have a look in their FAQ all the details are there. However be aware that your application can be rejected depending on the owners of the rights to the song - writers, publishers and anyone else who has in interest.

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2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

If it’s just for a single (one track only) and you use CD Baby, they will handle the licensing application for you. Have a look in their FAQ all the details are there. However be aware that your application can be rejected depending on the owners of the rights to the song - writers, publishers and anyone else who has in interest.

Thanks very much, that’s good to know. Will relay the info to the rest of the band :)

ps if anyone wants to head over and like ‘The Goodbye Look’ on Facebook i’d be eternally grateful 😘

Edited by Higgie
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1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

Don't forget PPL too. They do the performing rights. They can also issue the IRSC number (each released song/version of a song has a  unique number for cataloguing). My band went with Ditto Music who seem to do a great job for 19 quid.

PPL is yet another organisation you probably want to join, but completely separate and different to PRS/MCPS, As Steve Browning says, if you want an ISRC for your track which makes getting performance royalties much easier, then you will need to join.

However there is absolutely no reason to pay for your ISRC. Join the PPL as a record company member as well as a musician member (they are separate applications so complete both), which cost nothing and you can generate as many ISRC as you need for free.

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As a general observation, getting the appropriate permissions for a cover song release these days is a lot harder than it used to be - especially since digital downloads don't have a finite quantity.

In the past with vinyl or CD you simply told the MCPS how many copies you were pressing, what the retail price was and what proportion of the songs were covers to originals and they worked you out a price based on those figures. You paid and they issued a licence which allowed you to get your records or CDs manufactured. It was as quick as it could be given that everything took about 28 days by post. The rights holders of the song(s) you were covering were rarely bothered as they were getting their share of all the Mechanicals up front irrespective of how many copies actually sold.

These days of digital downloads sales numbers are open-ended. You might sell 1 download to your mum. You might sell 10,000,000 all over the world. That means the Mechanicals have to be recorded individually for every sale and only come in as and when a download is actually sold. Also the rights holders can be a lot more precious about how the songs are used. They might also be worried that a cover may detract from sales or the "original" version.

My experience of trying to get covers cleared and licensed for digital distribution, has been that on the whole it's simply not worth the time and expense required to get the permissions. At the moment, my 80s synth band have been toying with the idea of re-releasing our two cassette EPs along with some other demo recordings as a digital album. However one of the tracks in a cover. Trying to get permission to include it, has so far proved to be hard work. We'll probably end up having to leave it off.

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Some more observations that the OP might want to take not of...

I'm assuming that both songs in this mash-up are covers? I'm familiar with Superstition, but not the other song.

If that is the case, it may make it trickier to get the licences since not only will you have to get (and pay for) a licence for each song if any of the rights holders don't like how you've combined them, they might not allow to use their song in this way.

Also I would recommend that for the moment you set your SoundCloud link for this track to private and get this thread moved to Off-Topic where it is not visible to Internet Search Engines. If any of the rights holders for these songs are a bit "iffy" about granting you a licence, the fact that you have essentially released the song before the fact might just make them say "no".

Which brings me the crux of the matter... What do you hope to achieve with this track? Because you aren't likely to make any money off it. In fact it's probably going to cost you a lot more to put this out legally than you are ever likely to receive back in streaming or download sales. Cover versions rarely make the artists cover them any money unless they are massive hits.

Edited by BigRedX
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27 minutes ago, fleabag said:

Have to say it Higgie - that is a beast of a track. If any amatuer band deserved to make money from a cover, thats would be it, despite whether reality says otherwise

Superb musicianship from everyone

Wow! That is very nice of you to say. Thanks pal ☺️

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  • 3 weeks later...
6 minutes ago, Higgie said:

Ok so little update, the tune is available, but we're not selling it - It's a free download. You can check out the rest of the EP here: http://www.thegoodbyelook.com and you can purchase it from bandcamp (name your price) :)

I hate to be a party pooper, but even though you are not selling the track you are still on dodgy ground having this track available on Bandcamp. Part of the terms and conditions you agreed to when uploading your recordings to Bandcamp (you did read all the terms and conditions didn't you?) is that you own all the relevant rights to the recordings. So unless you have obtained the appropriate PRS/MCPS licence for these covers you are in breach of your Bandcamp agreement.

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