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Yahoo Adds Lyrics to Music Service

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 8:55 AM - by

Yahoo is giving subscribers to its music service something to talk - or sing - about by adding song lyrics to its music download Web site. Gracenote is licensing the lyrics for about 400,000 tracks to Yahoo, and the two companies are claiming that they are offering the only legit and accurate lyric service on the Internet.

Most online lyrics sites are compiled by music listeners that may not always transcribe the lyrics correctly, and are not offering a service that has been authorized or licensed by the record labels.

The Yahoo lyrics database will be cross referenced with Yahoo's other music offerings including on-demand music, music videos, and streaming radio. BMG Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, as well as several independent labels are all represented in the available lyrics.

Yahoo is hoping the new service proves to be a hit with customers looking for accurate song lyrics without pop-up ads. The company is also hoping to lure music fans away from the iTunes Store by offering a feature that isn't yet available through Apple's service.

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brett_x said:

member since 24 Jan 2006 with 322 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:52 am

This topic blows my mind. I never understood (and still don't) why we don't get lyrics as a part of the download (from iTunes or any other service). They embed the album art into each song file, but not a few bytes of lyrics text? There's even a place in the .mp3 tags for it. I'm really surprised Apple isn't on top of this. It's way past due.

It's the only thing I occasionally miss by not having the physical media. I've been using the "Sing that iTune" widget, but it has been very buggy since I got my Intel machine, and I shouldn't have to rely on a 3rd party for something so simple.

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dhp said:

member since 22 May 2003 with 182 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:49 pm

Lyrics that you find on the web (all those annoying 123lyrics.com and lyricsfreak.com type sites) are often accurate, but when you find an inaccuracy, it will be on *every* site. (Are they all owned by the same person, or do they just cannibalize each other?) Your best bet is a fan site if you can find one.

The story doesn't mention whether these lyrics will be freely downloadable or only available with song purchases.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:14 pm

Well that's nice and should have been the way all along for all, duh...

But as a Yahoo customer for past 2 years, and soon not to be a customer, they need to concentrate on getting product working acceptably.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:03 pm

brett_x wrote:
This topic blows my mind. I never understood (and still don't) why we don't get lyrics as a part of the download (from iTunes or any other service). They embed the album art into each song file, but not a few bytes of lyrics text? There's even a place in the .mp3 tags for it. I'm really surprised Apple isn't on top of this. It's way past due.

There is a lyrics panel in the info for each song in iTunes. The problem may be licensing. The lyrics are not always owned by the same person or company who owns the rights to the recorded song. For example, Michael Jackson bought the rights to most of the Beatles' songs. That meant that no one could publish lyrics or music nor perform or record the songs without Jackson's permission.

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