The Originality of Copies: Cover Versions and Versioning in Remix Practice

In this article I analyze the cover version as a specific form of copying in music recording and performance, and then evaluate it as a cultural variable that is part of the creative process in remix practice. This analysis demonstrates that cover versions, versioning, editing, sampling, and remixing are dependent on copying and, for this reason, my eventual focus is on the relation of copies to originals and copies to copies. Another important element examined throughout the essay is the role of selectivity in the creative process as a foundational principle of communication and how it shapes varying popular and individualized assumptions about definitions of originals and copies.

Keywords | appropriation, art, cover versions, cultural studies, media studies, remix studies, remix theory

The Originality of Copies: Cover Versions and Versioning in Remix Practice” was published in The Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture.

In this article I analyze the cover version as a specific form of copying in music recording and performance, and then evaluate it as a cultural variable that is part of the creative process in remix practice. This analysis demonstrates that cover versions, versioning, editing, sampling, and remixing are dependent on copying and, for this reason, my eventual focus is on the relation of copies to originals and copies to copies. Another important element examined throughout the essay is the role of selectivity in the creative process as a foundational principle of communication and how it shapes varying popular and individualized assumptions about definitions of originals and copies.

Keywords | appropriation, art, cover versions, cultural studies, media studies, remix studies, remix theory

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Work Title The Originality of Copies: Cover Versions and Versioning in Remix Practice
Subtitle Cover Versions and Versioning in Remix Practice
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Eduardo A Navas
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. The Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture
Publication Date January 1, 2019
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.5325/jasiapacipopcult.3.2.issue-1
Deposited September 19, 2022

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added Navas_Originality_Covers.pdf
  • Added Creator Eduardo A Navas
  • Published
  • Updated Work Title, Description Show Changes
    Work Title
    • The Originality of Copies
    • The Originality of Copies: Cover Versions and Versioning in Remix Practice
    Description
    • Yes
    • In this article I analyze the cover version as a specific form of copying
    • in music recording and performance, and then evaluate it as a cultural variable that
    • is part of the creative process in remix practice. This analysis demonstrates that cover
    • versions, versioning, editing, sampling, and remixing are dependent on copying and,
    • for this reason, my eventual focus is on the relation of copies to originals and copies
    • to copies. Another important element examined throughout the essay is the role of
    • selectivity in the creative process as a foundational principle of communication and
    • how it shapes varying popular and individualized assumptions about definitions of
    • originals and copies.
    • Keywords | appropriation, art, cover versions, cultural studies, media studies,
    • remix studies, remix theory
  • Updated