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To Cover Or Not To Cover, That Is The Question.
Dear MLT,
More than a suggestion, this is me thinking aloud which hopefully may be of support in some way.
You’ve pointed out, there’s no money to be made on YouTube with covers, while most of us found you through a YouTube cover. I understand you’re focusing on doing original music now, which I agree it’s the way to go and hopefully you’ll churn them out left and right with high standard you’ve been doing until now (no pressure 🙂 ).
Maybe in the middle of an ebb and flow of song writing, you want to go for a cover it could be one that is in public domain, like the Beatles did with “My Bonnie”. You’ve already done it (not publicly) with “Leise Rieselt Der Schnee”. There are many songs that are in public domain that get played a lot, like “Auld Lang Syne” and “Skye Boat Song” (which was re-done for the TV series Outlander), but the original song is in public domain. All the Scottish songs are coming up in my mind, but I know there are many others, “Ain’t She Sweet”, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”, and also “Happy Birthday” has finally been taken away from WB and is back in public domain. I’m sure you could do a smashing version of Happy Birthday, or your compatriot’s “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.
I don’t know, just throwing it out there. Especially after the fantastic version you pulled for “Baby Mine”
Stay Groovy!
Tomás
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6 Replies
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Lol… Funny Tomas that you should mention the Skype Boat song for Outlander TV show… I love that show and have read and a fan of all Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander book series (#9 book to be released this year at some point – I’ve read a few off the Outlander offshoots she’s done… Even met her when she came to town on Book#8 signing your a few yrs back) . It was a Dr. Who episode where she got inspired
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Great suggestion Tomás. I’ve also been thinking about ways that the MLT could improve the revenue stream from their extensive YouTube collection and I guess membership to this club is one way, but your suggestion would draw an income from a far wider audience. I don’t know much about how the recording royalty system and YouTube advertising revenue system work, apart from what the Twins have taught me, but I have always thought they seem to be way too generous with what they give for free.
Following on your theme of what’s in the public domain, I believe ‘Sloop John B’ would be an excellent contender, even though it has been recorded by many artists already and would be a major challenge for anyone. However, as a studio recording and with one of Rudolf’s brilliant video productions, I have no doubt the MLT could make this a real winner. They are also into Beach Boys’ style harmonies and it’s their version, from ‘Pet Sounds’ that I have in mind.
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The big publishers are very sneaky (nicest word I could find), when publishing songs in public domain. For example, the Kingston Trio got sued for “Tom Duley” even though the song was in public domain, because they did a “version” that had been published. Like the Skye Boat Song, that was redone for the Outlander TV series, with the new lyrics they can copyright that, so if you do the version with their lyrics, you’d be infringing on their copyright. They are also collecting royalties on the song being played, a % of the full royalties that would normally be allocated, but none the less an increased income.
With YouTube, it’s a one-sided thing, meaning that whatever they say you have to abide by it whether you think you’re right or not. If you do a public domain song and change part of it, so you’d be entitled to lets say 20% of royalties, you might have a hard time communicating that to them if you’re not Sony or WB. I had a problem that somebody took a couple of the songs I had written and recorded, and put them up (my exact recordings) on iTunes and Amazon as his, as well as YouTube, Bandcamp and a few other places. I found out by chance, and though iTunes and Amazon were quick to take them down, YouTube never did and of course, I’d have to sue for back money which would be ridiculous.
So, the Beach Boys version of Sloop John B would not be in public domain. The music industry needs to change from the roots up.
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You know way much more than me about the intricacies of the recording industry Tomás. I thought there would be some issues with the Beach Boys’ version of ‘Sloop John B’ but they only changed the original lyrics slightly. What if MLT used the original lyrics? I guess the argument may then also come down to the Beach Boy’s musical style or something like that. Are you saying that songs in the public domain can be partially re-copyrighted by an artist making a marginal change and thereby making it their own? Am I on the right track here?
I was sorry to hear about your problems with your own music. I guess this is the perennial issue for artists trying to go it alone and I’m starting to understand some of the issues the Wagners are faced with and am consequently pleased that my small contribution (along with the many other excellent club members), may be helping them avoid the sharks in the corporate music industry.
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“Are you saying that songs in the public domain can be partially re-copyrighted by an artist making a marginal change and thereby making it their own?”Â
Yes, labels do that all the time. Theoretically, they are placing a copyright on the modified part, not the original version. It’s a way to cash in on royalties where there wouldn’t be a payment otherwise. Sometimes it’s blatant (like WB and the Happy Birthday song) and other times it’s just to collect more on the sale of CDs. Truth is that with their greed, they created the huge piracy there’s now.
Now, if the Twins get an established (AKA major studio star) to release one of their songs, then they’d be cashing in on those royalties. Easier said than done, but that was McCartney’s idea when he was writing songs for Peter & Gordon and Mary Hopkins.
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Yes, and the Glimmer Twins (Jagger/Richards) did the same for many artists too. Marianne Faithfull (As Tears Go By), Chris Farlow (Out of Time), Cliff Richards (Blue Turns to Grey), The Mighty Avengers and also The Herd (So Much in Love), Gene Pitney (That Girl Belongs to Yesterday).
‘Love of The Loved’, written by lennon/McCartney, was Cilla Black’s first single. Later she had a hit with Lennon/McCartney’s ‘It’s For You’ and ‘Step Inside Love’ was written for her by Paul McCartney in 1968. She recorded many other Beatle’s songs, as did Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas and Peter and Gordon.
It would be really nice for the Twins if a major recording artist released a cover of a MLT song!
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