- Sound-alike
A sound-alike is a recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular
recording artist , or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings.Sound-alikes are usually made as budget copies or "" of popular recordings, since the cost of covering a popular song is usually cheaper than that of
licensing the original recording, or to make listeners believe a particular artist is performing a given song, to spare the expense of engaging that artist.The buyers of these albums are casual music fans who see the albums at departments stores or discount stores but probably include those who think they're buying a more legit album and, ironically, are devoted fans of an artist who want to build a collection of all versions of the artists' songs.
Sound-alike recordings have been used in movie
soundtrack s and radio and televisioncommercials since their origin, while sound-alike artists have long recordedjingle s and other musical material for commercial use. In the 1980s, singerBette Midler sued over a sound-alike song being used in a commercial which sounded too close to the original. In the 1990s, guitaristCarlos Santana sued over a commercialmusic bed that closely imitated his playing and arranging style.Sound-alike
album s have also long been issued by small record companies, to cash in on the popularity of artists, movies orshow tunes from hit plays.Lou Reed began his recording career working for one such company,Pickwick Records , but years later became a star in his own right, as an original performer. Other such companies wereHit Records ofNashville, Tennessee andEmbassy Records of theUnited Kingdom .Bell Records ofNew York City also issued sound-alike budget records in the 1950s. Madacy Entertainment also releases sound-alike albums under the titleThe Countdown Singers .In
1971 , the sound-alike albumTop of the Pops, Volume 18 hit No. 1 on the UK album charts.ee also
*
The Countdown Singers
*The Hit Crew
*The Studio Sound Ensemble External links
* [http://www.hitrecordsofnashville.com Tribute to Hit Records of Nashville, TN]
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