In Music Piracy, A War Of Words

This week, the National Music Publishers’ Association made lyrics the latest front in the war against music piracy. Music lovers search the Web for lyrics millions of times every day, making advertising on third-party sites a profitable enterprise — one in which artists aren’t included. The NMPA sent “takedown” notices to 50 of the most popular outlets, calling their publishing of lyrics “blatant illegal behavior, which significantly impacts songwriters’ ability to make a living.”

Songwriters’ rights advocate David Lowery provided the NMPA with a list of the top lyric-providing violators. Lowery is also the leader of the popular bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. “If they’re generating revenue and getting investments, they should be licensed,” Lowery tells Kurt Andersen. “We all need to be asked for the use of our content.”

Lowery admits that those lyric sites that have secured licenses “don’t generate a huge amount of revenue, but it clearly is valuable.” He’s not hoping to shut down sites like Rap Genius and Lyrics Mania — only to see them go legit, pay songwriters some fee (however small), and continue to introduce fans to music.

→ David Lowery’s shortlist of licensed lyric sites:

• A-Z Lyrics Universe
• elyrics.net
• Song Lyrics
• Song Meanings
• Lyric Interpretations
• Metro Lyrics
• Lyrics Freak
• Sing 365
• Lyrics Mode
• Lyrics.com
• Lyrics 007