Copywrite question - can I use instrumental of 80s song in commercial game?

i was thinking of making an instrumental version of an 80s song in one of my scenes for a commercial game. Is this ok? Or are there copywrite issues? It won’t be exactly the same but still recognizable. thanks

Well, there are two things at play here, the copyright of the tune and the copyright of the performance. Doing your own performance makes it easier, but you still need to get a license to use the tune from whoever holds it. Sometimes it's the band, sometimes it's the record company, sometimes it's the composer, sometimes it's family of the composer. I suggest asking the band first, if they can't do the licensing then they should know who to ask and how to contact them.

Thanks for the reply. I doubt it will happen then. Thanks

There's a composing trick you can use to make something that sounds similar but is completely your own. Maybe doing that instead will help? You split up the parts of the song, like the base line or melody then remove one completely and compose your own that works with what's left. Then you remove another part and do it again until everything in it is your own thing. I think you're supposed to split it into two parts and replace half so that it's enough your own but I can't recall for certain. I'm not a composer myself.

@Jellicoe Also, remember some artists loves giving their time, encouragements, pats on the back, approval to some indie artists and students if they know what they will be doing exactly with their music/song and their credits for their tunes goes straight into the credits. Sometimes it even helps promote artists like Steam Powered Giraffe twice! ^^

Trick; take an official videoclip of your song/music on YouTube, go under description and generally you have licensed to, YouTube by, Author, Album, writer, song etc... So it makes easier to get around (Wikipedia also can help :) ) I was searching for a video from an university that made an animation on Mr Bluesky and it became official or there are too many that got the fair use for it or permission. (Still, I eye that one XD )

Simple answer - no you can't. Not unless you get written approval from the copyright holder.

There are huge libraries of free-to-use or royalty-free music out there. Search out something you can use for your game.