Recording ideal covers on the vt

What song do I cover?

Pick any song currently featured on the vt from our featured artist / featured album. Take some time to dig in and listen. Find something that resonates with you. It could be a whole song. It could be just a melody line or snippet of the lyrics. Make your cover version based on that.

What kind of recording are you looking for?

The best covers are simple and from the heart. Ideal covers include:

- One instrument / one vocalist (singer/songwriter-style)

- A capella version

- Mixed genre (bluegrass cover of a hip hop tune, for example)

- Studio jam or live performance

- Derivative work (unique rewrites or edits, bring your own style)

What excites YOUR creative imagination?

Covers don't have to be elaborate or well-produced. The cover contest is designed for live recordings. The goal is to capture simple, fun & intimate performances from artists that highlights (a) listening skill and (b) performance skill.

Covers also don't have to be perfect note-for-note and lyric-for-lyric versions. We want to hear YOUR creative interpretation of our featured tracks. Maybe you want to edit the lyrics, or maybe you just hear a riff or a jam that you want to expand on. (Technically this is known as a derivative work and not a cover, but for simplicity's sake we just call it a "cover contest"). This should be fun creative challenge that is more rewarding than social media, etc. Artists who engage with our cover contest find it to be a joyful and uplifting experience (compared to the anxiety attacks and toxicity of social media posts).

How to record on the vt

In the main menu (without logging in) there's a "covers" option that takes you to a cover recording page. If you're logged in it's in the main menu as "record cover" -- and you can bypass email validation for your submission, making it easier for members to submit.

After you submit, please be patient with our servers. It will take a few minutes to complete the submission process. Once it reaches 100% and the submission is complete, the service will return you to the vt's regular experience.

IMPORTANT: If you have recorded the cover with anyone else, please have them check their email and follow the validation process, using the code emailed to them. Covers that aren't validated by all recording artists will NOT be available for listening by our members and will NOT be able to participate in our cover contest.

Ready to get creative?

Go forth and make incredible music. We are excited to hear what you come up with.