You record a cover, film a nice video of it and want it everywhere: on your YouTube channel, on Spotify, on Apple Music. It feels like one piece of content, but in rights terms it is several, and YouTube and the streaming stores handle cover songs in very different ways. Knowing the difference before you upload saves you from claims, rejections and takedowns.
One cover, several permissions
Every cover uses someone else's composition: the melody and lyrics belong to the songwriters and usually to their publishers. Your recording and your video are yours, but the song inside them is not. Which permission you need depends on where the cover appears and in what form.
- A cover video uploaded to YouTube relies largely on agreements between YouTube and music publishers.
- A cover released as audio on streaming platforms needs the right to reproduce the song, usually called a mechanical licence.
- A cover video used outside YouTube's own arrangements needs a sync licence from the publisher.
Three uses, three answers. Most problems start when artists assume that permission for one use covers the others.
How YouTube handles cover videos
Many publishers have agreements with YouTube that let people upload cover videos. Instead of removing a video, the publisher can claim it. Usually the video stays up and its ad revenue goes to the publisher. In some cases, when the creator is in YouTube's Partner Program and the publisher allows it, the revenue is shared between them.
Keep a few things in mind:
- Not every song is part of these arrangements. A publisher can block a cover or limit it to certain countries.
- A claim is not a copyright strike. It is the rights holder using its rights, and it usually does not harm your channel.
- Money from a claimed cover may never reach you, so do not plan your income around it.
- These arrangements apply only to videos on YouTube. They give you no licence to release the same cover anywhere else.
Why some cover videos get two claims
A cover sung over the original backing track, or over a karaoke version found online, uses someone else's recording as well as their song. The owner of that recording can then claim the video too, and recording owners are often stricter than publishers.
Rosa Lind, a made-up singer, uploaded two covers of the same ballad. The first used a karaoke track and was blocked in several countries within a day. The second, with her own piano arrangement, was claimed by the publisher and stayed up. Recording your own backing, even a simple one with guitar or piano, removes that second layer of trouble.
What streaming platforms need instead
On Spotify, Apple Music and other stores there is no publisher claim system that lets a cover simply stay up. The release needs the mechanical rights to the song before it goes out. Depending on the country and the platform, these may be covered by agreements between platforms and rights organisations, or you may need a licence through a licensing service or directly from the publisher. Distributors usually ask you to confirm that you hold what is needed, and some ask for proof. In CULT, as with any distributor, you must hold permission for everything you submit, and the team reviews each release before it goes to the platforms.
Content ID works differently for covers as well. Your recording is yours, but the song is not, and claims on other people's videos of the same song can easily hit the wrong target. Many distributors leave covers out of Content ID or accept them only after a careful rights check, so do not expect a cover to earn on YouTube the way your own songs can.
The video is a separate right
A mechanical licence covers audio only. Putting a composition into a video is a sync use, and it needs permission from the publisher. This is the step artists miss most often.
If you want to deliver your cover video as an official video release through a distributor, use it in an advert or a film, or sell it as part of a package, get sync permission first. Many distributors will not accept a cover music video without it. Translating or rewriting the lyrics needs separate permission too, whatever the format.
A sensible order for one cover in both places
- Find out who publishes the song and what licence your release countries require.
- Record your own backing instead of using the original or a karaoke track.
- Sort out the mechanical licence, or confirm with your distributor how covers are handled, before you set a release date.
- Release the audio with the original title and the original songwriters in the credits.
- Upload the video to your own channel, expecting that the publisher may claim it.
- If you want the video released officially anywhere else, ask the publisher for sync permission first.
Rules on every platform change over time, so check the current policies before each cover release.