I had a thing where I really wanted a popular song for a video. What a did was I found someone doing an acoustic cover/cover of it and contacted them. That person was more than happy to allow the use of their cover
This is EXTREMELY risky, because even though the cover artist gave you permission to use the song, he or she doesn’t have the legal right to do so.
Cover songs still have to get permission from the original artist through a mechanical license. Otherwise, it’s an illegal cover. And even if the cover artist did get permission and a mechanical license, that license doesn’t give the artist the right to extend the original copyright to yet another party - you. There’s a good chance that both the cover artist and your video that uses it could get demonetized at best or taken down with a copyright strike at worst.
I’d suggest a thorough read of the article “Using Cover Songs On YouTube” on the LegalZoom Website. I’d post a link here but I can’t.
A short quote from the article:
“
Thousands of times a month, someone posts a cover song on YouTube. And whether the video is a live band performance or a toddler singing from her high chair, most of those cover songs are posted without permission from the song’s copyright holder—meaning they’re infringing someone’s copyright.
If the copyright owner complains, YouTube may remove your video. And if you’re a repeat offender, your YouTube channel—and all its data—may be permanently deleted. In rare instances, you might even be sued for copyright infringement.”