Cover Songs

JerRocks2day · 06-23-2007, 05:09 PM

I've been wondering about this for a little while. But, is it alright for Christian bands to do some cover songs from secular artists?

tropicana · 06-23-2007, 05:32 PM

Why wouldn't it be?

MrCrabby · 06-23-2007, 05:41 PM

Morally? Why not?

Legally? Not without permission and paying for performance rights.

**thesteve** · 06-23-2007, 05:41 PM

This really boils down to the personal convictions of the band. There is not a "right" and "wrong" answer to a question like this...

though I will say that a Christian band covering Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" would be a bit strange.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrCrabby

Legally? Not without permission and paying for performance rights.

From what I understand, you don't actually need any rights in order to perform the song live, only to record and distribute the song. This may vary from venue to venue though.

b_hoves · 06-23-2007, 05:45 PM

I don't see a problem either. Being Christian you probably wouldn't be picking songs to cover that would be offensive or anything so I don't really see where the problem is.

Why don’t you tell us where you think there is a problem and we could go from there.

Jenacen · 06-23-2007, 06:04 PM

If you're unsure about the the song or the original band's reputation, I would hold off, but no, there's nothing inherently wrong with it. Just be careful.

JerRocks2day · 06-23-2007, 06:10 PM

I saw this one band called "Monday Morning" at a small Christian fest held by a local church and when finished with one last song, they did Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." We weren't lifting up our hands in worship to it, instead, we were just having fun and jumpin' up and down. They did great.

**thesteve** · 06-23-2007, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerRocks2day

I saw this one band called "Monday Morning" at a small Christian fest held by a local church and when finished with one last song, they did Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." We weren't lifting up our hands in worship to it, instead, we were just having fun and jumpin' up and down. They did great.

Well there's lots of Christians in bands that aren't around to make music just to worship God. Not every Christian band wants to be or needs to be Third Day. Christians are allowed to have fun...really.

Jenacen · 06-23-2007, 06:15 PM

And that's fine to do, just have fun, as long as you feel that what you're doing isn't disruptive to your purpose or doesn't overshadow it.

tigerfan88 · 06-23-2007, 07:43 PM

I think it depends on the lyrical content. If it's a song with a lot of cussing, I'd say no. But if it's a clean song, I'd say yes.

There was actually a U2 cover CD a few years back with all Christian artists. They ended up changing the lyrics for one of the songs from "used to make love under a bright sunset" to "used to find love under a bright sunset". I think subtle changes like that to cover a song are OK, but certainly not a Christian artist covering, say, Eminem or Manson, where they'd have to cut out pretty much the whole song.

MrCrabby · 06-23-2007, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

From what I understand, you don't actually need any rights in order to perform the song live, only to record and distribute the song. This may vary from venue to venue though.

While most labels won't go after a small-time band doing covers, performance rights are still covered under copyright law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performing_rights

**thesteve** · 06-23-2007, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrCrabby

While most labels won't go after a small-time band doing covers, performance rights are still covered under copyright law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performing_rights

weird...I've always been under the impression that the venue was in charge of securing all of the legal end in terms of what is performed in house and that the bands pretty much didn't have to do anything as long as they weren't recording and selling the music.

The thing I'm not quite understanding with the wiki article is that it's completely in reference to broadcast by a business. Does the definition of "business" include bands, or is it a more specific term?

where's Nate when his expertise is needed?

slappykid123 · 06-23-2007, 09:08 PM

I'd say it depends on the song. If you see the Newsboys covering a Rob Zombie track or something, it could upset a few people.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 06-23-2007, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

where's Nate when his expertise is needed?

On his honeymoon hopefully.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slappykid123

I'd say it depends on the song. If you see the Newsboys covering a Rob Zombie track or something, it could upset a few people.

If the track were without objectionable material... why would it be wrong? Other than the fact that I doubt the newsboys could do such a style without it being utter hillarity because of the sheer horribleness of it.

tigerfan88 · 06-23-2007, 09:22 PM

I'd pay money to hear the Newsboys cover "Never Gonna Stop Me" by Rob Zombie. Seriously.