Penteado 1

Ligia Penteado

Mrs. Pritchett

7th grade English

9th April 2021

Cover Artist Passion Project

“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul” -Plato. Music has the

ability to speak to the mind and soul. Cover artists sing songs they relate to and that display their

talent. Cover artists are musicians who sing or play other people's songs. A lot of them have so

much talent, but they've never released their own music. People have recently brought these

artists to the light, and their growth in popularity shows their recent impact on society.

Music has been proven to decrease anxiety and put people in a good mood. "There are so

many mechanisms that explain the powerful impact that listening to a piece of music can have,”

(Suzanne Hanser, president of the International Association for Music & Medicine (IAMM) and

a professor of music therapy at Berklee College of Music). As the report details, that impact

starts in the brain, where music activates many regions, including those associated with emotion

and memory. Research shows that music can have a beneficial effect on brain chemicals such as

dopamine, which is linked to feelings of pleasure, and oxytocin, the so-

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called “love hormone.” And there is moderate evidence that music can help lower levels of the

stress hormone, cortisol.

Cover artists have gained popularity through social media. “Shawn Mendes started to gain

popularity on the social media app Vine by posting song covers. After getting attention online he

got his first record deal and his success has continued from there.” “Charlie Puth saw initial

success from his videos on YouTube. Charlie's YouTube channel had comedy videos and

acoustic covers”. Independent artists are now putting their fate in their own hands, by bypassing

labels, uploading their projects to online streaming platforms and speaking to their fans directly

through their social media. A report by Wintel, showed streaming revenues from the indie sector

alone saw an uplift of over 46% and increased its overall music market share to 39.9% in 2017.

Music has always and forever will be a major influence for me. “Music, once admitted to the

soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies.” ― Edward Bulwer Lytton. Since before I was

born, my parents have played various genres for me to listen to. I haven’t been able to go a day

without music. It’s my fuel and has touched me in so many ways. “Music touches us

emotionally, where words alone can't.” ― Johnny Depp. I’ve loved to sing since I could talk,

and that’s my one major talent. I love what I’m doing and I love the idea of how much I could

impact people, including myself, with just a song. It has always been a way for me to escape and

express myself, and I really want to share that.

It has been very clear how much the public was impacted ever since cover artists started

rising to fame. Music, whether it be original or a cover, makes a difference to people emotionally

and psychologically, and cover artists have helped people through their art. Music has impacted
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everyone including myself for the better, so what these people are doing is important to all

people.