Cover Songs

A cover song is any new recording of a song that was previously written, recorded, and released by someone else. You own the recording (your version), but the original songwriter owns the composition itself (lyrics, melody, and song structure).

If you want to distribute a cover song with Symphonic, you will need to obtain a mechanical license from the original copyright holder before you release your song digitally.

We recommend our partner Easy Song for this.

Note: iTunes and many other platforms do not accept sound-alike cover songs.

A sound-alike cover is a song that sounds almost identical to the original. Stores consider this content deceptive and misleading and do not want their customers to purchase this material by mistake. If you distribute sound-alike covers, they will get hidden by the stores, and we will not be able to reverse this or issue any refunds.

Cover Song Formatting Guidelines

Cover songs should NOT include the original performing artist in the track title or artist field.

INCORRECT:

My Way (Originally Performed by Frank Sinatra)
My Way (Cover of Frank Sinatra)
My Way (Tribute to Frank Sinatra)

CORRECT:

My Way
My Way (Acoustic Version)
My Way (Cover)
My Way (Cover Version)