A Philosophy of Cover Songs

<p class=ql-align-justify>Cover songs are a familiar feature of contemporary popular music. Musicians describe their own performances as covers and audiences use the category to organize their listening and appreciation. However until now philosophers have not had much to say about them. In <em>A Philosophy of Cover Songs</em> P.D. Magnus demonstrates that philosophy provides a valuable toolbox for thinking about covers; in turn the philosophy of cover songs illustrates some general points about philosophical method. </p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>Lucidly written the book is divided into three parts: how to think about covers appreciating covers and the metaphysics of covers and songs. Along the way it explores a range of issues raised by covers from the question of what precisely constitutes a cover to the history and taxonomy of the category the various relationships that hold between songs performances and tracks and the appreciation and evaluation of covers. </p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>This unique and engaging book will be of interest to those working in philosophy of art philosophy of music popular music studies music history and musicology as well as to readers with a general interest in popular music covers and how we think about them.</p>