Relationship Type "Cover"
Link Phrases
release or track is a {parody} cover of release or track
release or track is covered by {parody} release or track
Description
This AdvancedRelationshipType links a cover version of a Track to the original Track, or a cover version of a Release to the original Release. MusicBrainz doesn't have a crisp definition of "cover version", but this phrase from ![[WikiPedia]](/-/musicbrainz/img/moin-inter.png){kind=small}
Wikipedia sums it up: "In pop music a cover version is a new rendition of a previously recorded song".
This AdvancedRelationshipType of ReleaseReleaseRelationships and TrackTrackRelationship is part of the AlternativeVersionRelationshipClass.
Relationship Attributes
Parody
The ParodyRelationshipAttribute lets you indicate that the song is covered with a satirical, ironical or otherwise humorous intention. Parodies of well-known songs in most cases have altered lyrics. For more about parody in music, you may read the Wikipedia article.
Begin date, End date
Dates do not apply to this relationship. Leave them empty. (More on this attribute at DateRelationshipAttribute.)
Style
Don't Make Relationship Clusters
Always use the earliest released Track or Release (even if it was obscure) as the target of this relationship. This lets us sidestep subjective debates about which release is most important or influential. See DontMakeRelationshipClusters for more discussion of this problem.
Rearrangement, Composition and Performance
When the database says that one song is a cover of another, then it is implied that the primary artist of the song re-arranged and performed the track. So there is normally no need for either a PerformerRelationshipType relationship or an "arranged by" relationship (see CompositionRelationshipClass). If someone other than the performer produced the arrangement, only then is a separate "arranged by" relationship appropriate.
When NOT to use a cover AR
Do not use this relationship if either the cover or the original is subject to the ClassicalStyleGuide (CSG), even to indicate a parody. This is because "covers" are so common in ClassicalMusic, and the CSG's standardized TrackTitles and ReleaseTitles already make them apparent. And a parody would usually be a relationship between one MusicalWork and another, not between performances, so a track-track relationship wouldn't apply.
When an artist covers their own material, for example producing an acoustic version of an electric guitar song, then the OtherVersionRelationshipType should be used.
When an artist records a single track consisting of several other songs strung together (covers or not), this is considered a medley. Medleys have their own MedleyRelationshipType.
A discussion is open at WhatIsACover to define "a cover" in the context of MusicBrainz, but we proceed despite the fuzzy definition.
There is currently no place in MusicBrainz to record the fact that one band is a cover band of another. There is a way to record that a release is a tribute album to another artist though: through the TributeRelationshipType.
Examples
The song "All Along the Watchtower" was originally written and performed by Bob Dylan. Later, Jimi Hendrix extensively rearranged the song and had a big hit with it. Jimi Hendrix's version has a "cover" relationship to Bob Dylan's version. This is sufficient: all other information about who wrote, performed, and arranged Jimi Hendrix's version can be derived from just this information, so no further relationships should be entered.
The song "Mandy" was written by Scott English and Richard Kerr, and originally called "Brandy". Scott English recorded a version that hit top 20 or so all over the world in 1971, then it was recorded again in 1972 in NZ by Bunny Walters (when it was again a huge hit across Australasia). In 1974 Barry Manilow turned it into a mega hit again, pretty much everywhere this time, but by now the song had been renamed "Mandy" (that's the only real change, although it's a big one). There's been a couple of other not very well known covers of the Manilow version, and then Westlife covered it again and had a moderate hit with it in the last couple of years.
![[WWW]](/-/musicbrainz/img/moin-www.png){kind=small}
4 Tunna Brix is a 12" vinyl of a Sonic Youth "Peel Session" where they cover "The Fall". It has four tracks:
My New House
Rowche Rumble
Psycho Mafia
Victoria
All of these tracks are covers of The Fall's versions, however track 4, Victoria, is actually a "The Kinks" track, which as in turn covered by The Fall.
F.F.F. by Megaherz is a cover of the Billy Idol song Flesh For Fantasy, but translated into German. The example is interesting because it poses the question: who wrote the lyrics?
"My Way" ( Wikipedia Page) has an interesting history, being originally a French song, "Comme d'habitude" by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, before being rearranged by Paul Anka, becoming a huge hit for Frank Sinatra, covered by Elvis Presley and parodied by Sid Vicious. Along the way it's picked up approximately 7.3 bazillion other cover versions: a perfect example of why we DontMakeRelationshipClusters.
The song Bold & Delicious has an interesting effect of the cover being released before the original. The song was written by Sweetbox member GEO but was shared with some minor changes with the artist Ayumi Hamasaki who had a personal interest in their work. Production of both versions occurred at about the same time but Ayumi's cover single of the song beat the original writer's album to release by a few months.
Discussion
Link to which version?
There were three suggestions for StyleGuidelines for this relationship. The first was to only ever link to the very first released version. This is the policy used by the CoversProject.
The second possibility was to link each cover to those versions that have most influenced it - so most artists were influenced by Marvin Gaye's version of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" rather than Gladys Knight's version, and so they should relate to the former not the latter.
(There was a third, somewhat radical proposal namely: covers that retain the same name as the original should be linked to the original artist e.g. Strawberry Fields by Candy Flip is a cover of a song by The Beatles)
Original suggestion:
"If you want to know who composed the track, you chase up the original version and find out who wrote that. It is generally inappropriate to give any kind of CompositionRelationshipClass credit except "arranged by" for a cover version. You certainly shouldn't give a "composed by" credit to the original composer, because that fact is already in the database, and duplication of data should be avoided if possible."
I do not necessarily agree with that last statement. IMO on the long run every track should have a composer credited. --DonRedman
Could you expand on that? Why do you think it's necessary to add so much information? Is it because there is information that can't be represented by my example, or is it for the extra convenience of being able to see who wrote a track without performing more lookups? Also, I'd make the point that in many cases, composers should be linked to albums, not tracks, to avoid unnecessary data duplication and make the database cleaner. --MatthewExon
Original Suggestion:
"When there are several different versions of the same song, every version should be linked only to the very first released version. It is true that some covers are actually covers of other covers, but this is a subjective thing, whereas deciding which is the first released version is much more clear cut, and easier to verify independently. For the same reason, we use the date of release, not the date when the song was first written or recorded. Again, release dates are far easier to objectively verify (they're generally printed on the album), as opposed to writing or recording dates."
Note that this uses the strict and objective definition of WhatIsACover by the CoversProject. I am not sure if there is already a consensus that this difinition should be that of MusicBrainz. --DonRedman
I tend to agree that what I originally suggested is overly strict. --MatthewExon
Example situation where this could be an issue:
"Little Guitars: A Tribute to Van Halen" track 8 is "(Oh) Pretty Woman", originally done by Roy Orbison. Van Halen did a cover on their "Diver Down" album. And this track is intended to cover their version of it. The full album is marked as a VH tribute of course, but this particular track, would it be marked as a cover of Roy Orbison or Van Halen? Actually, got quite a few tracks like this (Ratt covers Aerosmith's version of "Walking the Dog", which was originally by Rufus Thomas. And so on). Just some examples to get an idea of problems to be faced before actually facing them --HairMetalAddict
What do we do when a famous band covers a traditional song? I'm thinking of Thin Lizzy's version of "Whiskey in the Jar" here. I'm sure that there are more traditionalist recordings floating around somewhere, but identifying which was the first released would be a real trial. This also wouldn't make much sense, since every version ever recorded is really a cover.
We should in any case distinguish between a cover version and a parody. For example, Enter Madman 1 & Enter Bluesman 2 (by Excrementory Grindfuckers) has exactly the same lyrics and almost the same meldoy as Enter Sandman by Metallica, but the way it is performed clearly makes it a parody. Therefore adding an AR saying it were a cover version would create a wrong impression of the song. --derGraph
It's based on someone else's song, melody and lyrics. How is that creating a wrong impression? --LarryGilbert
The CoversProject site seems a little moribund. I recently found Second Hand Songs who seem to have continued the idea. Although they only have indirect submissions through their forum. --Chiark
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