Musical covers: A disturbing trend?

Why more and more local artists prefer covers as a launch pad.

LAHORE:

In the past, musicians used to indulge in ‘instant tribute’, a term coined after artists increasingly played covers at live shows to pay tribute to the legends they were heavily influenced by.

Many also used the concept of live covers to bring in diversity and add more flavour to their performances; for instance, Junoon’s guitarist Salman Ahmad tried his hand at covering a U2 song during a tour in New York. This not only added versatility to the band’s performance but also increased the band’s fan base.

Years later, the trend has changed, as with a slumped economy the struggle for commercial brand support and the aim to gain a fan base have become the dominating reasons for many artists picking up on this trend. Hence, the increase in studio-produced cover songs in Pakistan is a new trend which has left a question mark hanging over the evolution of music in the country.

Sarmad Ghafoor, renowned record producer who has produced albums for a variety of artists such as Atif Aslam, Overload and newcomer Bilal Khan, explains that the trend of playing cover songs was ignited by “Coke Studio”, which showed the commercial viability of reproducing songs by famous bands and artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Vital Signs, Junoon and a host of other artists.

Last year, bands such as Laal, SYMT, Overload, Aag, Jimmy Khan and Faiza Mujahid released studio covers of classical Pakistani songs as well as international ones. The trend over the last year has evolved commercially as Levi’s had rising stars Zoe Viccaji and Bilal Khan do a cover of classic Strings songs.

“I think the trend is for commercial reasons rather than artistic,” claims Ghafoor, who is also part of the progressive rock band Qayaas. “Brands have encouraged this trend but it’s debatable whether this really helps the music community, as only a handful of people are benefiting from this.”

Although, Ghafoor admits the trend is having an impact on a local level — as certain bands have been able to increase their relevance and appeal to a wider target market — he is quick to point out that this shift also proves how much the once burgeoning music industry has declined. The first reason he gives for the steady decline is the presence of easily accessible Indian music. Ghafoor stresses that in 2003-2004, when bands like Noori, EP, and Atif Aslam gained popularity, it was due to the fact that Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (Pemra) had placed a ban on Indian music so Pakistani music channels forced local bands to come up with new songs. Secondly, for local artists, the lack of an arrangement where musicians can regularly play live also hampers growth in the field.

Local band SYMT, whose song “Zamana” has been nominated for the ‘Best Song 2010’ and ‘Best Video 2010’ at the 10^th Lux Style Awards, did three covers of Vital Signs songs over the summer. As the tracks received significant air-time, the band’s lead vocalist Haroon Shahid asserted that playing covers was a way to reach out to the audience and was, in fact, one of the few ways to have audiences relate to the music of the band. “One of the issues is that it takes time for the listeners to get used to a band’s sound,” said Shahid, adding that performing cover songs of famous artists helps the band connect to the audience better as they are familiar with those songs.

Hence, for local artists, covers have become one of the last-gasp efforts to garner a local and global following for their music. Islamabad-based singer Abdullah Qureshi is one such artist who has created ripples on the internet through popular English covers. “The reality is that in places like Islamabad, artists end up spending their own money for gigs at cafes and are, in many ways, paying the audience to listen to them,” said Qureshi. “Covers allow you to make a fan base and are generally considered the best way to start and gain popularity.” The other factor, which Qureshi says is important, is that through YouTube and other public forums many artists can cater to a global audience as big brands approach them — for commercial reasons — due to their following online.

Therefore, for Qureshi, who has several studio-recorded covers, the formula remains simple: “Do covers until the fan base is big enough, and then release your original work.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2011.