ABSTRACT
Cover songs are omnipresent in contemporary music culture. Artists like to play them during the encore to a concert, contestants of a talent show are expected to perform them and the music industry knows how to capitalize on them. Unsurprisingly, the cultural status of the cover song is a contested one. Whereas professional and established artists are lauded for covering work of others to honor the past as well as establish a personal authenticity through the adaptation of original songs, young and emerging cover artists are reproached for following a market logic and producing uninspired and unoriginal material (Cusic 2005; Plasketes 2005). For many ordinary people and amateur performers, covering is predominantly a favorite pastime, a manner of practicing skills or an experience of fandom. However, thanks to the popularization of Web 2.0 and the increased availability of accessible video capture software, people have started sharing their covers online. Video sharing websites offer amateur performers the possibility of reaching a broad audience and acquiring social, cultural and symbolic capital (Fuchs 2012).
