Yeah & not really most my articulate thought either.
To be fair, there are probably hundreds of little reasons an artists decides to cover a song, so I shouldn't pretend to know why or how every artist arrives at their decision. Some of those reasons are likely more meaningful that others, depending on the song, project, etc. Some cover choices are purely driven by other 'less artistic' factors. I was just reducing a train of thought down to the bare bones. I know that even as someone who has been a songwriter as a hobby, sometimes I just learn other people's songs when I got nothing else, but want to play music. There's something to be said of just the inspiration of learning someone else's song that can inspire you.
Coverage (really 'cover albums') in general are bit different in nature than a one-off cover to me though. I think that if an artist is going to expend their creative energy to do a whole of album covers, there's likely more deliberate thought put into the project & song choices (especially if you're a 19 year old young woman, spending your own money to make album that will hopefully distinguish you from your peers.)
