Muscians looking to capitalise on the success of other artist’s music with the recording and sale of cover versions on iTunes are going to have a much harder time doing so from now on.
The iTunes Store style guide has been updated with new rules on the naming of cover versions of songs.
Titles of covers will no longer be accepted if the original artist’s name is included so that consumers do not confuse similarly sounding tributes with the original versions.
The guide states that phrases such as Originally Performed By, In the Style Of, Tribute To, or Cover Of will no longer be accepted.
Exceptions might be made for Karaoke tracks, but only if the track is clearly marked as a karaoke version and listed as Originally Performed By…(original artist name).
The only other exception for cover songs is for the artist’s name to be included in the album title. The album title can’t start with the artist name, however. For example, Bob Seger Tribute is not acceptable, while A Tribute To Bob Seger would be acceptable.
Via: Digital Music News
