Discuss the cover version phenomenon as it relates to the major record companies in the 1950s.

Cover Versions(Background Information) The contemporary image of a barbershop quartet is a group of white men dressed in turn‐of‐the‐century clothes. The roots of the style, however, lay in African American barbershops of the late nineteenth century. Barbering was a low‐status occupation performed by European immigrants and African Americans. In the black community, barbershops often served as hubs of social and musical activities, and the close harmonies and performance styles of the barbershop quartet style developed in this milieu. The early recording industry contributed to the racial shift from black to white barbershop quartets by recording primarily white barbershop groups. Once barbershop became popular in the 1930s, it was promoted by an organization called the SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America). The group, like many other male fraternal organizations before the Civil Rights era, admitted only white members; over time, the shift of barbershop from a black to a white art form became complete., This regrettable pattern of appropriation was and continues to be found in almost every arena of music‐making in the United States.QUESTION/TOPIC: (3-4 page)Discuss the cover version phenomenon as it relates to the major record companies in the 1950s. Be sure to address the financial ramifications endured by African American artists by placing the practice within the segregationist context of the time. Suggest “Sh’ Boom” The Chords (1954) and The Crew Cuts (1954) as a case study.