Cover Songs on YouTube: How Licensing and Copyright Claims Work
Sharing a cover song on YouTube is one of the most popular ways for musicians to build an audience. But when you upload your performance, you might notice a copyright claim appear on your video. Don’t panic — this doesn’t always mean you’ve done something wrong. It’s simply how YouTube identifies and manages music rights behind the scenes.
Understanding how these claims work will help you avoid unnecessary disputes and keep your videos monetised and compliant.
Two Types of Copyright Claims on YouTube
When you upload a cover, YouTube’s Content ID system scans your video for copyrighted material. If it detects a match, it issues a copyright claim. These claims aren’t necessarily bad — they just identify which parts of your video are owned by someone else. There are two main types:
- Audio (Sound Recording) Claim – an audio claim means someone else owns the recording used in your video. This often happens if you’ve used a karaoke or instrumental track you didn’t create (for example, a Sing2Piano, Sing2Guitar or Sing2Karaoke backing track), or any portion of another recording. The owner of that recording can choose to monetise, block, or track your video.
If you’ve used a Sing2Music track and want to enable monetisation, just reach out to our friendly team for a licence.
If you recorded every element of your cover yourself (vocals/instruments/mix), you own the sound recording. In that case, an audio claim may be an error and you should consider if it can be safely disputed.
- Composition (Publishing) Claim
A composition claim relates to the songwriting — the melody, lyrics, and structure written by the original songwriter or publisher. These claims are completely normal for cover songs. They don’t harm your channel or block your video; they simply ensure that the songwriters and publishers are paid their share of ad revenue.
Never dispute a composition claim unless it names the wrong song. YouTube’s system is designed to credit the correct rightsholders automatically.
Why You Don’t Need a Licence for YouTube Covers
On streaming platforms, you need a mechanical licence to distribute a cover. But YouTube operates under large-scale licensing deals with music publishers and collection societies that already cover mechanical rights (reproduction of the composition), sync rights (pairing music with video), and public performance rights (streaming to viewers).
That means you don’t need to secure your own licence to upload a cover performance. YouTube’s publishing agreements take care of it behind the scenes. When your video is claimed for composition, YouTube automatically pays the songwriter and publisher their share through ad revenue.
What You Should Do When You Get a Claim
- Audio claim:
- If you used someone else’s backing track, the claim is likely valid. You’ll need a licence to enable monetisation. Learn more about licensing your cover songs here.
- If you created all audio yourself, you can dispute with confidence.
- Composition claim:
- Normal and expected for cover songs. Don’t dispute unless the claim lists the wrong composition.
The bottom line? For cover songs on YouTube, you don’t need to obtain mechanical or sync licences yourself — YouTube’s publisher agreements already cover those rights. Just make sure you have permission for any backing tracks you use, or record everything yourself. Once that’s done, you can safely share your cover knowing the original creators are credited and your channel stays protected.