In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song. In its current use, it can sometimes have a pejorative meaning — implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive version, usually in the sense of an "authentic" rendition, and all others are merely lesser competitors, alternatives or tributes (no matter how popular). However, Billboard — and other magazines recording the popularity of the musical artists and hit tunes — originally measured the sales success of the published tune, not just recordings of it, or later the airplay that it also managed to achieve. In that context, the greater the number of cover versions, the more successful the song.

The present view of popular music starts with the recording artists and their material, not the published tune (in search of a popular artist to record it, e.g. from Tin Pan Alley in New York or Denmark Street in London). It is, then, in the light of an earlier, autonomous, poetic minstrel tradition that late twentieth/early twenty-first century singer-songwriter fixations may best be viewed. And with this, the prevailing distaste for artists who perform another's material as cover versions or compositions for produced artists in the Brill Building style (which produced very many tunes that were — and are still — widely covered by many artists in a variety of styles).

The term cover version originally implied a rival version of a tune recorded by an artist subsequent to an original version, e.g. Paul Williams's 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" or Hank Williams' 1952 ht_a/randypny/cashbox/19520927.html" target="_blank">http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/randypny/cashbox/19520927.html smash _Jambalaya (On the Bayou), both crossed over to the popular Hit Parade and had numerous hit versions. Prior to the mid-20th century the notion of an original version of a popular tune would, of course, have seemed slightly odd — the production of musical entertainment being seen essentially as a live event, even if one that was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music, learned by heart, or captured on a shellac recording disc. Popular musicians (and especially modern listeners) have now begun to use the word "cover" to refer to any remake of a previously recorded tune.

Musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (e.g. the reworking, updating or interpretation) of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (e.g. evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method in learning various styles of music. Most albums, or long playing records album" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_album, up until the mid-1960s usually contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present a fuller range of the artist's abilities and style http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Please_Me. Artists might also perform interpretations ("covers") of a favorite artist's hit tunes http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000DHVP for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Fitzgerald_Sings_the_Cole_Porter_Songbook. A cover band plays such "cover versions" exclusively.

In the contemporary world, there are broadly three types of entertainers who depend upon on cover versions for their principle repertoire:

_Tribute acts or bands are performers who make a living by recreating the music of one particular artist. Bands such as Bjorn Again, Dread Zeppelin and the Fab Faux are dedicated to playing the music of ABBA, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles respectively. There are also "tribute acts" that salute the Who, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and many other classic rock acts. Most tribute bands are content to perform copycat versions of the original repertoire. Some tribute bands introduce a twist. Dread Zeppelin's reggae takes on the Zeppelin catalog, and Beatallica creates heavy metal fusions of songs by the Beatles and Metallica.

Cover acts or bands are entertainers who perform a broad variety of crowd-pleasing material for audiences who enjoy the familiarity of hit songs. Such bands draw from Top 40 hits of different decades to provide a pleasurable nostalgic entertainment in bars, on cruise ships and at events such as weddings, family celebrations and corporate functions.

Revivalist artists or bands are performers who are inspired by an entire genre of music and who are dedicated to curating and recreating that genre and introducing it to younger audiences who have not experienced that music first hand. Unlike tribute bands and cover bands who rely primarily on audiences seeking a nostalgic experience, revivalist bands usually seek new young audiences for whom the music is fresh and has no nostalgic value. For example: Sha Na Na started in 1969 as a celebration of the doo-wop music of the 1950s, a genre of music that was not initially fashionable during the hippie counter-culture era. The Blues Brothers started in 1978 as a living salute to the blues, soul and R&B music of the 1950s and 1960s that was not in vogue by the late 70s. The Blues Brothers' creed was that they were "on a mission from God" as evangelists for blues and soul music. The Black Crowes formed in 1984, initially dedicated to reviving 1970s style blues-rock. They subsequently started writing their own material in the same vein.