A cover song is when an artist sings over another artist’s original song. In the early days of music, in particular, reggae music, a number of the artists sang covers. One such person is Sanchez. He transformed popular songs from R&B, Souls, and did those songs on reggae beats, and he made the song his own.
An easy promotional strategy is to sing covers that are from artists whose fan base is similar to yours.
eg: you’re an R&B singer, you have picks from the likes of Chris Brown, Rhinna, etc. As A POP artist, your picks may be from the top 10 Billboard charts. This would normally be done in the early phase of your career, to build your fanbase.
For a deejay or singjay, you can mix it up, for example, using the hooks of popular songs and doing a completely new verse to showcase your lyrical skills
The next phase of the process, You’d have then published your cover on youtube, and so when persons are searching for these originals eg. Steven Marley and Pitbull ” Options” they’ll find your version in the mix.
The spin-off is that persons may check out other singles you have posted as well.
You may choose to do a pristine production of the cover, or simply do a lyric video or a live acoustic performance.
Cover songs can be used to find new fans online. Use this as a means to get your name out to the public. You may release the cover while working on your originals, as this is just a way to ease into the market.
Covers are an effective way of introducing yourself to new audiences. This may be a way to funnel persons to your youtube, and other social media pages, where they can update themselves and get familiar with your work. Existing fans may also better appreciate your music as a result too.
Doing a cover though does not mean that you will do the song back in the original form. instead, transform the song in a way that makes it uniquely yours. eg.Sanchez is known to go all out productions and performances of covers, which, in turn, leaves you thinking it’s his original.
When you find the cover you want to to do, check out the top 10 or 100 Billboard charts. Get the lyrics and chords for the song. You can get someone to play it for you, and you record the video of your live performances or an all-out production.
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