I don't see anything wrong with cover songs. Take Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You." That was a hit back in the 1970's. Whitney Houston covered it in the 90's, and it became one of the best-selling singles of all time. Now, most people think of Whitney Houston when they think of that song, even though Dolly Parton originally made it famous. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was a cover by Cyndi Lauper. It is one of the most famous songs that she sings, but was originally written and recorded by Robert Hazard. Beyonce has made covers, so has Led Zeppelin... Amy Winehouse...they've all produced "famous songs" that were actually covers.
Even the old classical composers from way back in the day took parts of songs from other composers, creating a "cover" in an antique sort of way...
So covers aren't just made by YouTubers! ^_^
But I do agree -- more original music would be nice. I think it's easier to do than many musicians might think because there aren't any music boundaries already set in place. That said, I'm too much of a chicken to release my own stuff! xD I haven't been doing anything really popular to begin with, so maybe I should just throw it out there. lol!
Not a random underground jazz song
And hey now! : P I'm working on a cool ragtime jazzy song called "SPONGE." It was written by W. C. Simon in in 1911, and I adore it! ^-^ No one else will know what on earth it is, and it's quite a funky ragtime tune, but that's okay. : D
The bigger issue to me is how simplistic the "hit music" has gotten. By golly, it all sounds the same! I turn the radio on, and the whole music station sounds like a cover of the same song over and over again. Same song. Different words. loL!