You remember how it worked in middle school right? You get a great idea, turn and whisper it to a friend and then the jerk behind you raises his hand and repeats the gem, verbatim. Or maybe you were that jerk, like a little piranha trying to snatch whatever information you could. This is what has become of the movie industry. With copycat movies like The Prestige and The Illusionist or Armageddon and Deep Impact or every bloodsucking movie that came out after Twilight hit the scene, Hollywood is running out of ideas. The question is: has the music industry run the same course?

Levi’s Jeans just launched a new webpage that features artists who “re-craft the songs that inspired their sound.” In layman’s terms: it’s just a bunch of the same songs covered by new people. Levispioneersessions.com, in it’s infant form, only has Nas performing his version of “Hey Young World” for now. They have dead links to 11 other artists (including She and Him, The Shins, and Passion Pit) who plan to contribute their own version of an “inspiring” song. You can sign into the page to get Nas’ song and be on the list for future tracks.

One can only help but wonder if this is one more sign of things to come. We already have a bazillion covers and remixes AND plenty of cover bands and remix artists. Some bands produce singles sporting eight versions of the same song while other artists dish out nonsensical noise in an attempt to produce original material. One day we just might see a band called Hong Kong Law Enforcement Organization perform “Hold Up (Galoshes of Hazard).” The end is near.