5. “You Just Got Covered” : YouTube
Cover Song Videos as Examples of
Para-Adaptation
Costas Constandinides
Abstract
Cover songs are broadly viewed as adaptations within the context of
relevant scholarly debates, yet little has been written about user-made
YouTube cover song videos as adaptations. Scholarly work outside adaptation studies mainly describes such videos as derivative or fan-made
videos. This chapter revisits the concept of para-adaptation as a first step
in understanding how these videos form a multi-layered dialogue with
other media forms developed within and around YouTube. User-made
YouTube cover song videos do not visually emulate (unless the video
falls under the category of parody) the official music video of the song
covered, yet the visual settings may also be viewed as adaptations since
they borrow familiar elements from other participatory or industrydriven practices. Para-adaptation is a more f itting term to describe
such videos: no-budget user-generated content that creatively “disturbs”
commercial source products, and may eventually achieve a status that
surpasses the “ordinary” expectations of its creator(s). These videos,
deliberately or due to a lack of media production competencies and/
or space availability other than a bedroom, “fail” to establish a look
closer to industry standards. Rather than subtracting from their appeal,
these “failures” not only enrich the culture of “ordinary” creativity, but
become a source of inspiration for re-energized forms of commercial
entertainment.
Key words: Cover; YouTube; adaptation; para-adaptation
Fehrle, J. and W. Schäfke, Adaptation in the Age of Media Convergence, Amsterdam University
Press, 2019
doi 10.5117/9789462983663_ch05
Cover Song Videos as Examples of
Para-Adaptation
Costas Constandinides
Abstract
Cover songs are broadly viewed as adaptations within the context of
relevant scholarly debates, yet little has been written about user-made
YouTube cover song videos as adaptations. Scholarly work outside adaptation studies mainly describes such videos as derivative or fan-made
videos. This chapter revisits the concept of para-adaptation as a first step
in understanding how these videos form a multi-layered dialogue with
other media forms developed within and around YouTube. User-made
YouTube cover song videos do not visually emulate (unless the video
falls under the category of parody) the official music video of the song
covered, yet the visual settings may also be viewed as adaptations since
they borrow familiar elements from other participatory or industrydriven practices. Para-adaptation is a more f itting term to describe
such videos: no-budget user-generated content that creatively “disturbs”
commercial source products, and may eventually achieve a status that
surpasses the “ordinary” expectations of its creator(s). These videos,
deliberately or due to a lack of media production competencies and/
or space availability other than a bedroom, “fail” to establish a look
closer to industry standards. Rather than subtracting from their appeal,
these “failures” not only enrich the culture of “ordinary” creativity, but
become a source of inspiration for re-energized forms of commercial
entertainment.
Key words: Cover; YouTube; adaptation; para-adaptation
Fehrle, J. and W. Schäfke, Adaptation in the Age of Media Convergence, Amsterdam University
Press, 2019
doi 10.5117/9789462983663_ch05