The Highest Form of Flattery

In this time of change and progress, it is comforting to know that there are still a few things that have not changed. Especially if there was not anything particularly faulty about them to begin with. An encouraging example of this periodic preservation is the time-honoured tradition of song sharing. The notion of artists sharing has existed from the very beginnings of recorded music. In point of fact, were it not for what are now known as “cover songs”, the early 20th century recording industry would have barely existed. Even as late as the 1990s, there were examples of cover versions that came to be more widely known and better regarded than the original version. A prime example of this is the ditty “I Go Blind”. Originating with the Canadian minstrels known as 54-40, the tune became better known in the version performed by Hootie and the Blowfish. At least in North America. 

Since the initial imposition of social and political issues onto the digital speakers-corner referred to as “Social Media”, there have come to be jokes about when YouTube was just for “chatty vlogs, amateur musicians and cute cat videos.” Despite this being meant somewhat sardonically, there is also a grain of truth to this statement. There have long been amateur (and later professional) musicians who have used the video-sharing site as a means of trying to build a career.

There has also come to be an increase in the types and styles of songs being used for cover versions. Many of the covers done by Violinist/Dancer Lindsay Stirling and her compatriots, Cellist Tina Guo and the string quartet String Theory, revolve around popular culture. Particularly that in the Science-Fiction and Fantasy genres. Another interesting tendency materializing in the world of cover songs is the notion of willfully crossing genres. The cello quartet Apocalyptica, for example, specialize in covers of songs by Metallica, Motörhead and Pantera. This also extends to independently based musicians such as Lady Morwen who does a transcendent piano rendition of “Keelhauled” by the Scottish Pirate-Metal band Alestorm and Lady Chugun who manages to make Metal and Punk songs work for the accordion. An achievement on par with executing a banjo-driven Hip-Hop track. A heroic feat so far only Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer has managed to achieve.

Someone else who has helped keep things interesting is Jazz Pianist Scott Bradlee. Founder and band leader of Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. With an ever shifting group of like-minded melody aficionados, it is Mr. Bradlee’s stated ambition to expand musical horizons of the culture at large. As he explained  in his TEDx lecture, “A Bizarro World of Pop Music”, when he used to be asked what sort of music he preferred, he would respond “a bit of everything”. Which he says felt a bit too easy. Until, that is, he realized the fact that “all songs are just songs.” Sets of words and melodies that can be arranged in any way you want, the notion of “genres”  being arbitrary at best. An argument he goes on to prove by doing Jazz renditions of songs from nearly every known modern genre. Working closely with Mr. Bradlee and his Postmodern Jukebox is Jazz Singer and Pin-Up Model Robyn Adele Anderson. Still greater in her ambitions than Mr. Bradlee, Ms. Anderson is even more bold in terms of her experimentation. A Big Band version of Shakira’s “Whenever, Wherever” in fluent Spanish and an unbelievable, in the most literal sense, Swing version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” being among her most gobsmacking projects.

The outlook is also  no longer quite so dismal as it once was in terms of the financial aspect. Despite a few shenanigans in the beginning, particularly in terms of the YouTube monetization system, the profit structure as related to online material has become much more standardized and predictable with crowed funding sites and systems like GoFundMe and Patreon coming to the fore, mostly allowing performers to succeed or fail on their own terms and their own merits.