Dark days for lyrics websites, it seems.
In August, lecturer and Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery issued a report (later expanded in October) on illegitimate websites hosting free-to-access song lyrics. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) have submitted takedown notices to 50 unlicensed lyric websites. It’s a fascinating piece, outlining why unofficial lyric websites shouldn’t be allowed to operate scot free and why they’ve not been targeted to so far. An extract is below:
There is anecdotal evidence that these lyric websites generate huge web traffic and may involve more money than one might think. For example, we have found that the fully licensed www.azlyrics.com frequently ranks in the Top 500 websites in the U.S. Based on the popularity of lyric searches, it is possible that unlike the sound recording business, the lyric business may be more valuable in the Internet age.
The article also outlines the 50 biggest offenders, with the Top 10 reading as follows:
1. www.rapgenius.com (12.77%)
2. www.lyricsmania.com (10.4925%)
3. www.lyricstranslate.com (8.41%)
4. www.stlyrics.com (6.76125%)
5. www.lyricsreg.com (6.71375%)
6. www.lyricstime.com (6.05125%)
7. www.lyrster.com (5.675%0
8. www.parolesBmusique.com (5.18%)
9. www.kovideo.net (5.0975%)
10. www.songonlyrics.com (4.86625%)
As Pitchfork note, regulatory body the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) have now filed takedown notices against all the websites mentioned on te list. The organisation claims that there are over 5m+ searches for “lyrics” on Google each day, and has sworn to pursue “further legal action against sites that are unwilling to license or remove infringing content.” According to CEO David Israelite, “this is not a campaign against personal blogs, fan sites, or the many websites that provide lyrics legally. NMPA is targeting fifty sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior, which significantly impacts songwriters’ ability to make a living.”
Ilan Zechory, founder of RapGenius, responded by firing an email over to The New York Times, defending the website and its activities:
“The lyrics sites the NMPA refers to simply display song lyrics, while Rap Genius has crowdsourced annotations that give context to all the lyrics line by line, and tens of thousands of verified annotations directly from writers and performers. These layers of context and meaning transform a static, flat lyric page into an interactive, vibrant art experience created by a community of volunteer scholars.”
The news arrives a year after RapGenius was gifted $15m by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, who vowed to help push this “thriving ecosystem of ideas” into new territories, including a translation of the King James Bible.
