Cover Me! How The Songs You Cover on YouTube Can Make or Break Your B(r)and

 

by Cari Cole

 

youtubeCovers are all the rage, but how do you choose the right covers for your b(r)and? What covers will bring views and create leverage? And what covers could do some damage, even sink you, or worse get NO views.

We all know how important “numbers” on social media are. While you can’t make people watch, your content can.

Here are my tips on how to choose the right songs.

 

1. Don’t just choose any old song, find the right song.

Finding the right song has three requirements:

a. The lyrics are something you would say.
b. The music fits your genre or adapts to your genre easily
c. You sound really good singing it. No matter if the previous 2 are true, if you don’t sound good singing the song, it won’t fly.

 

2. Choose a song that makes a statement

Your song choice says something about you and should make a statement in one of these 3 ways:

a. About your music history savvy – helps identify you with music’s past and give you some roots (solidifies your b(r)and).

b. About the current music you like – helps attract followers that like those songs/artists.

c. About your ability to make a song your own with your own unique arrangement. Showing off your musical genius goes a long way with building an audience ;).

 

3. Should it be a current song or a blast from the past?

Don’t choose too obscure a song. The whole purpose is to cover a song people know and love (which can garner more views)! We like to hear unique versions of a well known song. That’s what made American Idol and The Voice so popular and now makes YouTube covers so popular. We want to see what you can do.

 

4. If you want lots of views, look for a song that is well known but not often covered.

It’s good to get in on a “song trend.” Recently we see a lot of artists covering new songs which can give you exposure in a YouTube search, but the list could be long. But you might get more exposure with a popular song that is not often covered.

 

5. Start a new cover trend.

If you’re like me, I’m always for starting a trend vs. following one. Don’t be afraid to follow your instincts. But if you do, make sure it makes a clear statement. One of my artists came up with an idea to cover local bands out of the music town she lives in. To be effective (since the songs are less known) she’d do best to post the videos on Instagram with a boatload of hashtags shouting to the band she is covering, as well as to other local bands, hashtag her town and use #newmusic hashtags. That way she could start a commotion and get people’s attention. If she’s successful other artists will see what she is doing and follow suit. Bam, you’ve started a trend!

Branding is not for wussies. If you’re coming up with an idea you have to think through how to really get it out there and how you present yourself in a way that has impact with your marketing message.

Oh and by the way, when you watch your favorite cover video, do the artist a favor and reload the page with each viewing so the views count!

“YouTube’s definition of a view is a legitimate (non-robot) video REQUEST. That means if the page loads, that’s a view, the user doesn’t actually have to watch more than 1 second. However, YouTube does track the actual viewing data (percentage, at what parts, rewinds, etc), and has recently updated their related videos algorithm to account for better/more relevant videos based on amount of time actually viewing such videos.”

Share your favorite YouTube cover below!

 

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