A sound-alike is a recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

world, it may also refer to those who recreate the voice and vocal mannerisms of a given celebrity's vocal performance (see also

impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...

). Sound-alikes are usually made as budget copies or " knockoffs" of popular recordings. The cost of writing and recording a new song that sounds similar to a popular song is usually negligible compared to the cost of royalties for playing the original recording or the

licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

fees to record a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

. If the sound-alike recording is dissimilar enough to avoid infringing the original writer's

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

, the user of a sound-alike can evoke the spirit of a song, or sometimes make listeners believe that the work being played has been recorded by a particular artist, without the expense of engaging a highly paid artist. A

is sometimes referred to as a sound-alike, but in the stricter sense, a sound-alike must contain differences that are significant enough to suggest to a listener that those recording the song sought to perform a work different from the work to which it sounds similar. A recording intended as an interpretation of a work is not a sound-alike; it is a cover version, for which many countries require licensing for any performance or distribution. Sound-alike recordings have been used in movie

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s and radio and television

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

since their origin, while sound-alike artists have long recorded

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s and other musical material for commercial use. Sounds-alikes have sometimes been the subject of litigation. In 1969, a semi-professional singer named Vickie Jones made the headlines for impersonating

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

at several shows in Florida, and escaped prosecution only because of the coercive treatment to which her manager had subjected her. In the 1980s, singer

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Gl ...

sued over a sound-alike version of her recording of "

Do You Wanna Dance? "Do You Want to Dance" is a song written by American singer Bobby Freeman and recorded by him in 1958. It reached number No. 5 on the United States ''Billboard'' Top 100 Sides pop chart and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. Cliff Richard ...

" being used in a commercial which sounded too close to the original. "

Old Cape Cod "Old Cape Cod" is a song written by Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus and Allan Jeffrey that was published in 1957. The single, as recorded by Patti Page, became a gold record, having sold more than a million copies. Hailed by Cape Cod natives as the ...

" was the subject of a 1990 lawsuit subsequent to a sound-alike version of the

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

hit which was featured in a 1989 commercial for

American Savings Bank American Savings Bank is Hawaii's third-largest financial institution, with assets of $6.7 billion. A subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries ( NYSE: HE), it is headed by Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, ...

. Page sued the advertising agency responsible for the commercial, alleging the commercial implied that Page, herself, endorsed the bank. Guitarist

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

sued over a commercial music bed which closely imitated his playing and arranging style. Sound-alike

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s have also long been issued by small, budget-minded record companies, as a way to cash in on the popular artists, movies or

show tunes A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. ...

from hit plays currently in style.

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

began his recording career working for one such company,

Pickwick Records Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo (later changing its name to Interna ...

, but years later became a star in his own right, as an original performer. Other such companies were Hit Records of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

and Embassy Records of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

also issued sound-alike budget records in the 1950s. Madacy Entertainment also releases sound-alike albums under the title The Countdown Singers; Drew's Entertainment currently releases sound-alikes through the name "The Hit Crew". Sound-alike albums have been known to chart. In 1971, the sound-alike album '' Top of the Pops, Volume 18'' reached No. 1 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. A medley of sound-alike recordings of Beatles songs recorded by the

Stars on 45 Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was successful in Europe, the United States, and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the UK and Ireland it was known as Starsound (aka ...

reached number one on several national charts in 1981. On February 3, 2012, a sound-alike version of the will.i.am track " T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" by "Kings of Pop" was available for download before the release of the original, and entered the UK Singles chart at number 40, the first cover to do so. Other sound-alike covers of "

Whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

" by

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single "Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital down ...

and "

Payphone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic outdoor areas, with prepayment by inserting money (usually coins) or by billing a credit or deb ...

" by Maroon 5 have also entered the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

. Many of these sound-alike versions of popular songs available on download sites continue to generate strong download sales prior to the release of the original song.

References

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External links

Tribute to Hit Records of Nashville, TN
Music industry

See also

References

External links