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In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song. It can sometimes have a pejorative meaning implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive or "authentic" version, and all others merely lesser competitors, alternatives or tributes (no matter how popular). Originally, Billboard and other magazines which track the popularity of the musical artists and hit tunes measured the sales success of the published tune, not just recordings of it. Later, they tracked the airplay that songs achieved, for which some cover versions are the more successful recording(s) of the particular song(s).^[1] Cover versions of well known, well liked, tunes are often recorded by new artists to achieve initial success when their unfamiliar original material would be less likely to be successful. Prior to the onset of Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, songs were published and several records of a song might be brought out by singers of the day, each giving it their individual treatment. Any singer who appeared to be copying an already successful version of the song would be viewed with disfavour. The trend, however, became for records to be produced, usually with particular background noises, and no other group would attempt a version.

On occasion a cover becomes more popular and well-known than the original like Santana's version in 1970 of Peter Green's and Fleetwood Mac's 1968 song Black Magic Woman or Jimi Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower".^[2] The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original, became a Top 10 single in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

History[link]

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. The Chicago Tribune described the term in 1952 this way: "trade jargon meaning to record a tune that looks like a potential hit on someone else's label."^[3] Examples of records being covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952^[4] song "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)." Both crossed over to the popular Hit Parade and had numerous hit versions. Prior to the mid-20th century the notion of an original version of a popular tune would, of course, have seemed slightly odd — the production of musical entertainment being seen essentially as a live event, even if one that was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music, learned by heart, or captured on a shellac recording disc.

In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers out of presenting revivals or reworkings of once popular tunes, even out of doing contemporary cover versions of current hits. Musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (e.g. the reworking, updating or interpretation) of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (e.g. evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method in learning various styles of music. Most albums, or long playing records, up until the mid-1960s usually 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 a favorite artist's hit tunes^[5] for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes.^[6] A cover band plays such "cover versions" exclusively.