What is a cover song?
If you play a song that another artist originally played, then you’re performing a cover of it, even if you change some elements of it (e.g. what instruments are used, its style, or how it’s arranged).
If you’re looking for how to format a cover song with the correct information, read on below!
How do I format stores and territories?
You can now distribute cover tracks to Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Saavn, Nuuday, Anghami, Tidal, and KKBox, without needing a mechanical license. In this case, your release will be distributed internationally, without the need to exclude territories.
If you want to deliver your release to our other partner stores, you can buy a mechanical license from our partners at Affordable Song Licensing to cover you in the following territories: The United States, Canada, Mexico, Pakistan & India. Please send your mechanical license/documented permission along with your UPC and username to moderation@routenote.com.
If you don’t obtain the licenses, the following territories will need to be excluded from your release:
USA, Canada, Mexico, India and Pakistan.
You can do this within the ‘Manage Stores’ section of your release. See this page for further information on how to format stores and territories for covers.
Please note! RouteNote can not distribute any covers to Korean service providers (Melon, Bugs!, Flo, Vibe, and Genie) without written permission from the original artist.
If you can obtain written permission from the original artist for your cover, please contact moderation@routenote.com with any evidence, including your username and the UPC of the release.
What should I put in the C line?
You must credit the original performing artist in the ‘Composition Copyright‘ field in your album details. If you have multiple covers within your release, please list the artists one after another, with a comma to separate them, for example: Stevie Wonder, Chic, Ray Charles etc.
Please note! The P line of the metadata shows who owns this performance of the composition, so it should be the name of whatever artist is playing on the release.
If your release is a cover of a track in the public domain, and you don’t know the original composer, then please see our Support Hub article for further guidance!
What should I put in the Publishing Information?
Here you’ll need to credit the original artist in the Composer field of this section. If you have multiple covers within your release, please list all the artists by clicking Add Composer.
If the release contains lyrics, then please click Yes and insert the original lyricist.
Check out the RouteNote Style Guide here!
More on cover releases:
Can I upload cover songs with RouteNote?
What is a cover song?
Can I cover a song and use audio from the original track?
How do I format stores and territories for a cover release without a mechanical license?
How do I license a cover?
Which stores and territories can I send a cover track to?
What should I put in the C line if my release is a cover?
What should I put in the P line if my release is a cover?
Can I choose ‘soundtrack’ as my genre if the release is a cover?