Covers and the Long Tail
A little while back, Nicholas Carr wrote a piece called "Head Phakes"
that is all about how unknown artists are adopting a new strategy of
covering songs by well known artists. When someone goes to iTunes
and searchs for a song, not only does U2 or the Beatles come up, but the
covering band does as well. I'm sure some of the new artists get
sales just from confused or clueless consumers who can't tell the
difference between the estabilished artist and the Newbie, but sometimes
the covers are really interesting and unique interpretations that take
the music into new directions. Those are the kinds of covers I like ...
such as Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt by the nine inch nails.
There are a few sites out there devoted to help people find covers. My favorite is the Cover Project.
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There are a few sites out there devoted to help people find covers. My favorite is the Cover Project.