Coverville

Coverville

A 30-minute music podcast featuring rare, unusual and great cover songs, usually produced three times a week. Licensed with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
Hosting	Brian Ibbott
Language	English
Updates	Usually updated three times a week.[1]
Length	Varies, but typically 35 minutes[1]
Debut	September 2004
Genre	Cover songs
Website	http://www.coverville.com/

Coverville is a podcast featuring unusual covers of pop, rock and country songs by new and established performers. The show is produced and hosted by Brian Ibbott out of his home in Arvada, Colorado.^[1] Coverville accepts advertising as part of the Backbeat Podcast Network.^[2]

Coverville is also part of the programming of the KYCY-AM "open source radio" station in San Francisco.

History

Ibbott, who wanted to be a disc jockey as a child^[3], began his DJ career at weddings, though was bored with the music selection such venues permitted.^[4] A TechTV story he saw in August 2004 got him interested in podcasting.^[4] The first Coverville podcast was launched on September 28, 2004. Coverville passed episode #300 on March 4, 2007 ^[5] and episode #500 on August 26, 2008^[6], which was celebrated with a concert in Las Vegas.

Coverville "paved the way" for the legal podcasting of music: early in Coverville's history, Ibbott contacted major performance rights organisations (initially ASCAP and BMI) to license music for his podcast. In October 2004, Brian met with ASCAP and BMI to explain the technology and delivery methods behind podcasting, and they adapted their non-interactive license to include podcast licensing.^[3][7] Ibbott was active in publicizing this information among other podcasters.^[8]

In 2005, Coverville won Podcast Connect's People's Choice Podcast Award for music.^[9] Coverville has been mentioned in articles appearing print and online publications such as Rolling Stone^[10] and BusinessWeek Online.^[3]

Features

A typical episode of Coverville has about six cover songs, and they are generally released on a three-per-week schedule.^[1] Weekly features typically include a Sunday all-request show, trivia challenges (where Brian, with help from his wife, try to solve various name-that-tune type challenges), and the Uncovered Gem Of The Week, a track that isn't a cover, but that the host likes. It is common for an episode of Coverville to have a central theme. Common themes include:

• Cover Story - An entire episode devoted to a single prominent artist, with a number of totally different covers of songs all originally by the same artist, sometimes also including the artist covering someone else in return. For example, the Depeche Mode Cover Story included six other artists covering Depeche Mode, but also included Depeche Mode lead singer David Gahan covering Roxy Music.
• Originalville - An episode dedicated to playing the original versions of songs whose covers became famous, but whose original versions are relatively poorly known.
• A Cappella - An entire show dedicated to a cappella cover songs.
• Lost In Translation - An entire episode based on cover songs performed in a different language than the original.
• Cover To Cover Interview - A show-length interview with someone, interspersed with their favourite covers or cover songs they've performed.
• Coverville Idol - Much like American Idol, a contest wherein contestants create and submit cover tracks based on a given theme. For 2006, the winner was "Walk Like an Egyptian" covered by the a cappella group No Strings Attached.
• Degrees of Coveration - connections between various musicians. Where musician A does a song by musician B, then musician B does a song by musician C, etc...

Countdown

At the end of the year, Coverville does a countdown of listeners' favorite cover versions. The following is a list of the top five from recent years:

2010^[11]

1. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"/"What a Wonderful World", covered by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, originally by Judy Garland/Wizard of Oz
2. "The Mercy Seat", covered by Johnny Cash, originally by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
3. "God Only Knows", covered by Petra Haden, originally by The Beach Boys
4. "Village Green Preservation Society", covered by Kate Rusby, originally by The Kinks
5. "Oops!... I Did It Again", covered by Richard Thompson, originally by Britney Spears

2009^[12]

1. "Village Green Preservation Society", covered by Kate Rusby, originally by Kinks
2. "All Along The Watchtower", covered by BT4/Bear McCreary, originally by Bob Dylan
3. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", covered by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, originally by Judy Garland
4. "Billie Jean", covered by Chris Cornell, originally by Michael Jackson
5. "Don't Stop Believin'", covered by Petra Haden, originally by Journey

2008^[13]

1. "I Kissed A Girl", covered by Max Vernon, originally by Katy Perry
2. "Hurt", covered by Johnny Cash, originally by Nine Inch Nails
3. "All That She Wants", covered by Max Vernon, originally by Ace of Base
4. "Hallelujah", covered by Jeff Buckley, originally by Leonard Cohen
5. "Fields Of Gold", covered by Eva Cassidy, originally by Sting

2007^[14]

1. "Romeo and Juliet", covered by Monte Montgomery, originally by Dire Straits
2. "Baby Got Back", covered by Jonathan Coulton, originally by Sir Mix A Lot
3. "Common People", covered by William Shatner, originally by Pulp
4. "Hurt", covered by Johnny Cash, originally by Nine Inch Nails
5. "Hot in Herre", covered by Jenny Owen Youngs, originally by Nelly

2006^[15]

1. "Hurt", covered by Johnny Cash, originally by Nine Inch Nails
2. "Toxic", covered by Nickel Creek, originally by Britney Spears
3. "Hallelujah", covered by Jeff Buckley, originally by Leonard Cohen
4. "Lithium", covered by The Polyphonic Spree, originally by Nirvana
5. "Baby Got Back", covered by Jonathan Coulton, originally by Sir Mix-A-Lot

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} About Coverville from the podcast's website
2. ^ Advertising on Coverville from the podcast's website
3. ^ ^{a b c} Green, Heather (2005-03-03). "Radio Days for Everyman". BusinessWeek Online (McGraw-Hill Companies). http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2005/tc2005033_1790_tc119.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-26. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Rise of the Pod People, a June 23, 2005 article from the Dallas Observer
5. ^ Coverville's 300th episode from the podcast's website
6. ^ Coverville's 500th episode from the podcast's website
7. ^ Borland, John (2005-06-16). "Hopes for Legal Music Podcasts Rise". CNET News.com. http://news.com.com/Hopes+for+legal+music+podcasts+rise/2100-1027_3-5749988.html. Retrieved 2007-04-26. 
8. ^ Getting legal with your licensed-music podcasts, Ibbott's December 2004 message on a Podcast Alley forum
9. ^ "2005 People's Choice Podcast Awards". Podcast Connect. 2005. http://www.podcastconnect.com/archive/2005/08/2005_peoples_choice_podcast_aw.html. Retrieved 2007-04-26. 
10. ^ Greene, Andy (2006-04-20). "Download Now". Rolling Stone (#998): 68. 
11. ^ Coverville 734: The 2010 Coverville Countdown part 4 from the podcast's website
12. ^ Coverville 639: The 2009 Coverville Countdown part 4 from the podcast's website
13. ^ Coverville 541: The 2008 Coverville Countdown part 5 from the podcast's website
14. ^ Coverville 405: The 2007 Coverville Countdown part 5 from the podcast's website
15. ^ Coverville 280: The 2006 Coverville Countdown part 5 from the podcast's website

External links

• Coverville, a blog and archive for the podcast