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57-628: The OneUps (originally known as One Up Mushrooms ) is an independent video game cover band, which primarily covers songs from classic video games of the 1980s and 1990s in funk and jazz styles. The band was formed in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2000 by Mustin, McLeod and Reyes, then still in college. The group initially got together to perform covers of the Super Mario Kart soundtrack. The group performed at smaller venues such as dive bars initially. The OneUps were one of three bands to perform at

114-502: A cover medley . On occasion, a cover can become more popular than the original, for instance Jimi Hendrix ’s version of Bob Dylan ’s " All Along the Watchtower " became the standard, and Dylan even adjusted his performance style closer to the Hendrix version. Johnny Cash ’s 2002 cover of " Hurt " by Nine Inch Nails is another example of the cover version eclipsing the original. This is

171-409: A compulsory license to distribute non-digital media of the recording. A mechanical license is not required for artists who record and distribute completely original work. The idea of mechanical licenses came about shortly after the turn of the 20th century, with the popularity of player pianos , with the ability to play songs encoded on a roll of paper. The sheet music industry then believed that

228-400: A copyright of a composition or musical work, to another party to create a " cover song ", reproduce, or sample a portion of the original composition. It applies to copyrighted work that is neither a free / open source item nor in the public domain . Most modern music consists of two distinct copyright elements. One is the composition itself, which consists of both the musical composition and

285-522: A favorite artist's hit tunes for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes. Today, three broad types of entertainers depend on cover versions for their principal repertoire: Since the Copyright Act of 1909 , United States musicians have had the right to record a version of someone else's previously recorded and released tune, whether it is music alone or music with lyrics. A license can be negotiated between representatives of

342-429: A mechanical license. A mechanical license can only be used after the original copyright holder has exercised their exclusive right of first publishing, or permission is negotiated. In American law, US Code Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 115(a)(2) states: "A compulsory license includes the privilege of making a musical arrangement of the work to the extent necessary to conform it to the style or manner of interpretation of

399-488: A recurring performance at MAGFest throughout the 2010s and continuing to release albums. This included Super Mario Kart Album in 2010, for which the band recorded a music video. The OneUps were featured on Chrono Trigger tribute album Chronicles of Time , which raised money for Doctors Without Borders . Tommy Tallarico requested that the group contribute to the 2017 vinyl reissue of the Earthworm Jim soundtrack, and

456-424: A saxophone. Cover version The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams ' 1949 hit tune " The Hucklebuck " and Hank Williams ' 1952 song " Jambalaya ". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before

513-456: A tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (such as evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method of learning music styles. Until the mid-1960s most albums, or long playing records , contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present a fuller range of the artist's abilities and style. (See, for example, Please Please Me .) Artists might also perform interpretations ("covers") of

570-455: A weekly segment called Like a Version in which a band or musician performs one of their own songs as well as a song they love by another artist. Originating in 2004, the popularity of the performances have resulted in the release of annual compilation albums of selected covers and, more recently, votes in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 poll (which has even sparked its own controversy). Conjoined cover songs are collectively referred to as

627-456: A widespread, common occurrence in the music industry. With advancements in artificial intelligence , internet users can create covers using RVC models. Cover versions (as the term is now used) are often contemporary versions of familiar songs. For example, " Singin' in the Rain " was originally introduced by Cliff Edwards in the film The Hollywood Revue of 1929 . The famous Gene Kelly version

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684-504: Is " Mack the Knife " ("Die Moritat von Mackie Messer"), originally from Bertolt Brecht's 1928 Die Dreigroschenoper . It was popularized by a 1956 hit parade instrumental tune, "Moritat", for the Dick Hyman Trio, also recorded by Richard Hayman & Jan August , but a hit also for Louis Armstrong 1956/1959, Bobby Darin , 1959, and Ella Fitzgerald , 1960, as vocal versions of "Mack

741-464: Is a license provided by the holder of the copyright of the composition or musical work to another party to cover, reproduce, or sample specific parts of the original composition. In United States copyright law , such mechanical licenses are compulsory ; any party may obtain a license without permission of the license holder by paying a set license fee, that as of 2018, was set at 9.1 cents per composition or 1.75 cents per minute of composition, whichever

798-469: Is more, which are to go to the composition copyright holder. These fees are paid to agencies like the Harry Fox Agency , who either already represent the composition copyright holders, or are able to direct the funds to the right party. Mechanical licenses do not apply the sound recording portion of the composition, and instead a separate non-mechanical license must be sought from the copyright holder of

855-410: Is the only one that might currently get widespread airplay on most media. Similarly, " Unchained Melody " was originally performed by Todd Duncan , featured in the 1955 film Unchained (based on the non-fiction story Prisoners are People by Kenyon J. Scudder); Al Hibbler having the biggest number of worldwide record sales for the vocal version with Jimmy Young's cover version rival outdoing this in

912-455: The Bob Dylan track " Desolation Row ". This is more common with today's covers, taking older popular music and revamping it to compare with modern popular music. Aretha Franklin 's cover of Otis Redding 's " Respect " was voted the greatest cover song of all time, according to Forbes.com. Mechanical license In copyright law , a mechanical license is a license from the holder of

969-501: The Glenn Miller version (on RCA Victor's cheaper Bluebird label), not someone else's (sometimes presented on a more expensive record company's label). This trend was marked closely by the charting of record sales by the different artists, not just hit tunes, on the music industry's hit parades . However, for sound commercial reasons, record companies still continued to record different versions of tunes that sold well. Most audiences until

1026-532: The 20th century it became common for phonograph record labels to have singers or musicians "cover" a commercially successful "hit" tune by recording a version for their own label in hopes of cashing in on the tune's success. For example, Ain't She Sweet was popularized in 1927 by Eddie Cantor (on stage) and by Ben Bernie and Gene Austin (on record), was repopularized through popular recordings by Mr. Goon Bones & Mr. Ford and Pearl Bailey in 1949, and later still revived as 33 1/3 and 45 RPM records by

1083-659: The Air" occur in Strictly Ballroom , Candi Staton 's "Young Hearts Run Free" appear in Romeo + Juliet , and adaptations of artists such as Nat King Cole , Nirvana , Kiss , Elton John , Thelma Houston , Marilyn Monroe , Madonna , T. Rex , David Bowie , Queen , and the Police are used in Moulin Rouge! . The covers are carefully designed to fit into the structure of each film and suit

1140-450: The American record market. Numerable English-language covers exist of " 99 Luftballons " by German singer Nena (notably one by punk band Goldfinger ), one having been recorded by Nena herself following the success of her original German version. " Popcorn ", a song that was originally completely instrumental, has had lyrics added in at least six different languages in various covers. During

1197-519: The Anglo-Saxon markets was once a popular part of the music business. For example, the 1954 worldwide hit " The Happy Wanderer " was originally " Der fröhliche Wanderer ", to this must be added " Hymne à l'amour ", " Mütterlein ", " Volare ", " Seeman ", " Quando, Quando, Quando ", " L'amour est bleu ", etc. Cover versions of many popular songs have been recorded, sometimes with a radically different style, sometimes virtually unrecognizable from

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1254-462: The Beatles in 1964. Because little promotion or advertising was done in the early days of record production, other than at the local music hall or music store, the average buyer purchasing a new record usually asked for the tune, not the artist. Record distribution was highly localized, so a locally popular artist could quickly record a version of a hit song from another area and reach an audience before

1311-538: The CD (or MP3 from iTunes) into the studio, pull the track off of the phonorecord, and sample the riff into his new song. For Puff Daddy to sample from the phonorecord of The Police’s music, he must get both a mechanical license from the copyright holder of the underlying musical work and a license from the copyright holder of the phonorecord from which he copies the sample. He is free to hire musicians to reproduce The Police's sound, but he cannot copy from any phonorecord with only

1368-665: The Fire , although the German title was retained. The English version, which was not a direct translation of Falco's original but retained much of its spirit, reached the Top 5 on the US charts. " The Lion Sleeps Tonight " evolved over several decades and versions from a 1939 Solomon Linda a cappella song. Many of singer Laura Branigan 's 1980s hits were English-language covers of songs already successful in Europe, for

1425-433: The Knife". Europe's Radio Luxembourg , like many commercial stations, also sold "air time"; so record companies and others bought air time to promote their own artists or products, thus increasing the number of recorded versions of any tune then available. Add to this the fact that many radio stations were limited in their permitted " needle time " (the amount of recorded music they were allowed to play), or were regulated on

1482-533: The OneUps ultimately recorded a cover of What the Heck for Side C of the collection. The band released a 20th anniversary compilation album in 2022, simply entitled "20", including one track from each of their eight studio albums. 20 was released as a limited run vinyl edition only. The OneUps perform covers of video game music, which have been described as fusion, funk and jazz . The group makes common use of keyboards and

1539-513: The Rain" has been covered and remixed by British act Mint Royale for a television commercial for Volkswagen . Another example of this, from a different angle, is the tune " Blueberry Hill ", many mistakenly believe the Fats Domino 1956 release to be the original recording and artist. In fact, it was originally introduced on film by Gene Autry and popularized on the record Hit Parade of 1940 by Glenn Miller. The Fats Domino rock and roll version

1596-978: The UK, Les Baxter's Orchestra gaining the big instrumentalist sales, reaching the US Hit Parade number one spot in May 1955, but the Righteous Brothers ' later version (top five on the US Hit Parade of September 1965 stalling at number 14 in the UK in August) is by far the wider known version, and especially so following its appearance in the 1990 film Ghost . " House of the Rising Sun " has hundreds of versions and in many genres such as folk , blues rock and punk as well as dance and dubstep . Director Baz Luhrmann has contemporized and stylized older songs for use in his films. New or cover versions such as John Paul Young 's "Love Is in

1653-572: The amount of local talent they had to promote in live broadcasts, as with most national stations like the BBC in the UK. In the US, broadcasters pay royalties to authors and publishers. Artists are not paid royalties, so there is an incentive to record numerous versions of a song, particularly in different genres. For example, King Records frequently cut both rhythm and blues and country and western versions of novelty songs like "Good Morning, Judge" and "Don't Roll those Bloodshot Eyes at Me". This tradition

1710-444: The bowdlerized popular cover versions more palatable for the mass audience of parents and their children. Artists targeting the white-majority family audience were more acceptable to programmers at most radio and TV stations. Singer-songwriter Don McLean called the cover version a "racist tool". Many parents in the 1950s - 60s, whether intentionally racist or not, felt deeply threatened by the rapid pace of social change. They had, for

1767-473: The compulsory mechanical license through a new non-profit organization created by the law, known as the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) . The Music Modernization Act changes the process of filing Notices of Intent (NOI) to obtain a compulsory license. Whereas a potential licensee intending to make digital reproductions of the work could previously submit a NOI to the copyright office when

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1824-406: The disingenuous spirit of early cover versions remain. In the album-buying heyday of the 1970s, albums of sound-alike covers were created, commonly released to fill bargain bins in the music section of supermarkets and even specialized music stores , where uninformed customers might easily confuse them with original recordings. The packaging of such discs was often intentionally confusing, combining

1881-470: The heyday of Cantopop in Hong Kong in the late 1970s to early 1990s, many hits were covers of English and Japanese titles that have gained international fame but with localized lyrics (sometimes multiple sets of lyrics sung to the same tune), and critics often chide the music industry of shorting the tune-composing process. Although modern cover versions are often produced for artistic reasons, some aspects of

1938-517: The inaugural MAGFest in 2002. The group continued performing at smaller events throughout the 2000s and released two albums, though these sold poorly. When they were invited to perform live at the Penny Arcade Expo in 2007, they intended it to be their final performance. However, the experience of performing in front of 5,000 people and the sudden uptick in album sales led the band to continue. The band performed at numerous other events, becoming

1995-529: The interpreting artist and the copyright holder, or recording published tunes can fall under a mechanical license whereby the recording artist pays a standard royalty to the original author/copyright holder through an organization such as the Harry Fox Agency , and is safe under copyright law even if they do not have any permission from the original author. A similar service was provided by Limelight by RightsFlow , until January 2015, when they announced they will be closing their service. The U.S. Congress introduced

2052-438: The lyrics, each which may have separate copyrights. The second is the sound recording, which covers both tangible copies ("phonorecord") of the performance of the work (such as vinyl albums, cassette tapes, CDs, and digital formats like MP3s) and public performances of the recording (such as over the radio). The copyright between the composition and the sound recording is frequently held by different parties. A mechanical license

2109-709: The mechanical license to head off an attempt by the Aeolian Company to monopolize the piano roll market. Although a composer cannot deny anyone a mechanical license for a new recorded version, the composer has the right to decide who will release the first recording of a song. Bob Dylan took advantage of this right when he refused his own record company the right to release a live recording of " Mr. Tambourine Man ". Even with this, pre-release cover versions of songs can occasionally occur. Live performances of copyrighted songs are typically arranged through performing rights organizations such as ASCAP or BMI . Early in

2166-517: The mid-1950s still heard their favorite artists playing live music on stage or via the radio . And since radio shows were for the most part aimed at local audiences, it was still rare for an artist in one area to reach a mass audience. Also radio stations tended to cater to broad audience markets, so an artist in one vein might not get broadcast on other stations geared to a set audience. So popular versions of jazz , country and western or rhythm and blues tunes, and vice versa, were frequent. An example

2223-443: The mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event , even if it was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music , learned by heart or captured on a gramophone record . In fact, one of the principal objects of publishing sheet music was to have a composition performed by as many artists as possible. This made

2280-483: The most part, shared entertainment with their parents in ways their children had become reluctant to do. The jukebox and the personal record disc player were still relatively expensive pieces of machinery — and the portable radio a great novelty, allowing truculent teenagers to shut themselves off. Tunes by introducing or "original" niche market artists that became successful on the mass audience hit parade charts are called crossovers as they "crossed over" from

2337-517: The most popular style of music in the mid-1950s / mid-1960s was still the professional light orchestra, therefore popular recording artists sought that format. For many purists these popular versions lacked the raw earthiness of the original introducing artists. Most did not have the kudos that rebellious teenagers craved, the street credibility — of rock and roll music; most were performed, and some were written, by black artists not heard in popular mass entertainment markets. Most parents considered

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2394-515: The name of the original artist in large letters with a tiny disclaimer like as originally sung by or as made popular by . More recently, albums such as the Kidz Bop series of compact discs , featuring versions of contemporary songs sung by children, have sold successfully. In 2009, the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee debuted, featuring several musical performances per episode. The series featured solely cover songs performed by

2451-409: The original sound electronically; cover versions give a performer the ability to adapt music to their own style, typically allowing them to change the genre of a song and recreating it to their own taste. For example, in 2008, Fall Out Boy covered Michael Jackson 's hit song " Beat It ", changing the genre from pop rock to a more punk rock feel. Another example is when My Chemical Romance covered

2508-403: The original. For example, Sir Mix-a-Lot 's 1992 rap " Baby Got Back " was covered by indie rock singer Jonathan Coulton in 2005, in an acoustic soft rock style. Coulton's cover was then covered, without attribution, in 2013 by the show Glee , and was so similar that Coulton, among others, alleged plagiarism of his arrangement and melody. Some producers or recording artists may also enlist

2565-415: The performance involved, but the arrangement shall not change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work ..." thus preventing mechanical licenses being used to make substantially derivative works of a piece of music. Musicians often use this license for self-promotion. For instance, a cellist who performed a musical work on a recording may obtain a mechanical license so he can distribute copies of

2622-461: The recording to others as an example of his cello playing. Recording artists also use this when they record cover versions of songs. This is common among artists who don't usually write their own songs. In the United States , this is required by copyright law regardless whether or not the copies are for commercial sale. The musician must serve the copyright owner a Notice of Intent (NOI) to obtain

2679-548: The recreation of their songs was violation of copyright, and initiated legal action that resulted in the Supreme Court of the United States case, White-Smith Music Publishing Co. v. Apollo Co. (209 U.S. 1) in 1908. The Supreme Court ruled that the piano rolls were not copies of the plaintiff's music, but instead part of the machine that created music, and thus player piano and piano roll makers did not have to pay royalties to

2736-504: The series' titular glee club until near the end of its second season with the episode " Original Song ". The series still primarily uses cover songs of both chart hits and show tunes, occasionally as mashups or distinct variations. The show's musical performances have been a commercial success, with over twenty-one million copies of Glee cast single releases purchased digitally, and over nine million albums purchased worldwide. Australian alternative/indie radio station Triple J presents

2793-520: The services of a sample replay company such as Titan Tribute Media or Scorccio, in order to replicate an original recording with precision detail and accuracy. A song may be covered into another language. For example, in the 1930s, a recording of " Isle of Capri " in Spanish, by Osvaldo Fresedo and singer Roberto Ray, is known. Falco 's 1982 German-language hit " Der Kommissar " was covered in English by After

2850-758: The sheet music composers. Songwriters lobbied to the United States Congress following the ruling, and succeeded in establishing the nature of mechanical licenses in the Copyright Act of 1909 . Since then, the nature of copyright law with respect to mechanical licenses have been continually updated to include new types of phonorecords mediums and recordings. For example, in October 2006 the Register of Copyright ruled that ring tones are subject to compulsory licensing. The Music Modernization Act passed in 2018 implemented processes for digital streaming services to pay for

2907-432: The song more important than the performing artist and rival cover or 'copycat' versions would vie for success. In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers of presenting revivals or reworkings of once-popular tunes, even out of doing contemporary cover versions of current hits. Since the 1950s, musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (the reworking, updating, or interpretation) of songs as

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2964-499: The sound recording (typically the musical performer or their agency representing them). For example: Puff Daddy wants to sample the opening riff from “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. He contacts the copyright holder of the underlying musical work and gets a mechanical license to use all or part of The Police’s song in his composition. He now has the right to reproduce all or part of “Every Breath You Take” in his new song. He cannot, however, purchase The Police’s Greatest Hits, take

3021-430: The targeted country, jazz or rhythm audience. Also, many songs originally recorded by male artists were rerecorded by female artists, and vice versa. Such a cover version is also sometimes called a cross cover version , male cover , or female cover . Some songs such as "If Only for One Night" were originally recorded by female artists but covered by mostly male artists. Reworking non-English language tunes and lyrics for

3078-405: The taste of the intended audience. Other artists release new versions of their own songs, like German singer Nena who recorded an entire album with great success, with new versions of older hits. Cover songs can be used to display creativity of a performers work through the talent of another artist's previous production. Not to be confused with a remix , which is defined as altering or distorting

3135-478: The version by the artist(s) who first introduced the tune, and highly competitive record companies were quick to take advantage of this. This began to change in the late 1930s, when the growing record-buying public began including a younger age group. During the swing era , when a bobby soxer went looking for a recorded tune, say " In the Mood ", typically she wanted the version popularized by her favorite artist(s), e.g.

3192-426: Was a revision that brought it up to date for a 1950s Hollywood musical, and was used in the 1952 film Singin' in the Rain . In 1978, it was covered by French singer Sheila , accompanied by the B. Devotion group, as a disco song, once more updating it to suit the musical taste of the era. During the disco era there was a trend of taking well known songs and recording them in the disco style. More recently "Singin' in

3249-427: Was expanded when rhythm and blues songs began appearing on pop music charts. In the early days of rock and roll , many tunes originally recorded by R&B and country musicians were still being re-recorded in a more popular vein by other artists with a more toned-down style or professional polish. This was inevitable because radio stations were reluctant to play formats outside their target audience's taste. By far

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