As we all are well aware of the idea of six degrees of separation between people (and maybe even more specifically, Kevin Bacon), it’s an interesting concept to take this a step farther and relate to music and bands/artists.  How do we make connections between artists though?  Between people, “knowing” someone is a pretty simplistic connection, and on Facebook, being friends is a good connection.  Between artists, an interesting connection are cover songs that an artist does.  The web site, Cover Trek does exactly this.

Why is this a feasible and interesting connection type?  Artists usually play cover songs that have a strong connection to them and therefore influences the music they play.  This means for us as a user that we can discover other artists that perhaps have the same connection for a certain song that we really like.  Plus, what better way is there to connect two really different artists together that a person may both really like.  On the covertrek web site, the example that they give is Kate Bush to Metallica:

• Kate Bush covered Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye
• Marvin Gaye covered I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Gladys Knight & The Pips
• Gladys Knight & The Pips covered Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love) by Pat Boone
• Pat Boone covered Enter Sandman by Metallica

As it relates to Networks, the question is whether 6 degrees of separation is really true between these types of connections.  Can we really trace from one band to another within six covers.  Obviously there’s a few problems with this since some bands may not play covers at all, while others play exclusively covers, and most are somewhere inbetween.  But because most are somewhere inbetween, do we count the ones that are recorded (and probably the only ones in this covertrek database), or do we also include live ones where they’re only performed on stage.  An example comes to mind when talking about Slope Day two years ago with three very distinct artists:  Acceptance, Talib Kwali, and Ben Folds all played on the slope and when Acceptance and Talib Kwali both played a Beatles cover, Ben Folds decided to do one too, meaning all three of these artists are now connected through this type of connection.  In addition, there are definitely artists who are covered more than others, such as the Beatles.  Therefore, it makes sense to look at who is covered the most to really judge who has had the most lasting impact on music through the ages.

Source: http://www.covertrek.com