We all know the power of lyrics in songs and the importance of lyrics and songs for music radio. Especially on the internet over the past 15 years, and for a much longer time with lyric subtitles in TV, (follow the bouncing ball), music videos, DVD’s + music films, the value of exhibiting lyrics in media, has been studied, proven, and demonstrated time and time again. It's clear to all that once anyone knows the lyrics to a song, there's a more conscious connection, even only from the lyric "hook", or chorus.
Lyrics have been the #1 search term on the internet, (higher than porn), since search has been counted. People want to know the lyrics to their favorite songs. We understand the value of singing along to the radio, probably saving thousands of lives in cars late at night, and the radio hit fueled karaoke business, with people singing hits globally. The phenomena of YouTube lyric videos, often being released before the actual song, as well as the YouTube closed captioning of lyric translations have proved the value once again. With Despacito at #1 for about 20 weeks and Gangnam Style, which ruled the charts earlier, the global interest in lyrics, across languages and the lyric translation is very clear. This also demonstrates the value for radio and radio internet to engage their audience with lyrics and lyric translations, ever more completely. Lyrics are now a standard feature on most, and most likely soon all, of the important music streaming services globally, with many of the biggest countries; (China, Japan, Korea, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil), also exhibiting lyric translations, whether legal or not (yet) legal.
With in-home devices, everyone from toddlers barely speaking to great-grandparents, are searching songs to play at home by reciting a few lines, even incorrectly, and getting the song played. Everyone benefits by incorporating lyric search and lyric exhibition into all their relevant options and strategies; music apps, websites, mobile "stations", even in hi def radio speakers, as are being launched. All it is, are another 1,000 words or less of additional meta-data, more often a few hundred words in a few minutes, that change people’s lives and make everyone in the business more successful in exceeding their goals. Lyric exhibitions also offer another opportunity for ad-targeting and data-mining, as search-able favorite song lyrics increase potential value for advertisers and brands utilizing song lyric and audience analysis that mention brands, products, places, politics, themes, moods, people, etc.
LyricFind is the leader in licensing lyric exhibition digitally from the music publishers; a “one-stop shop” for lyric and lyric translation licenses and delivery from all the major music publishers and thousands of other publishers. It’s also the largest catalog of human vetted lyrics that can be licensed. LyricFind delivers licensed lyrics; hits, classics, new releases from millions of songs, from its own API to many clients globally, including radio networks and stations, websites, devices, set-top boxes, and apps. LyricFind supplies lyrics and rights from the music publishers and songwriters to the major platforms and to small media vendors as well. LyricFind has launched in Billboard Magazine the weekly Global and US Lyric Charts, which differ, interestingly, from the sales or radio charts and can help predict interest, further airplay and sales.
Coming soon from LyricFind will be legal lyric human translations of initially the top 50,000 songs, synchronized to the audio masters of the song, line by line, with the original lyrics. All important new release's lyrics and lyric translations will be added upon licensing and song release, which could be especially important for stations in mixed language markets, or for stations with a global impact and multi-lingual listenership.
LyricFind is also launching LyricMerch in the fall of 2017, where affiliates; (stations and syndicated networks), can offer a link to the LyricMerch site that allows fans to create LyricMerch from a template, and then sells, manufactures and ships t-shirts, coffee mugs, phone cases, shower curtains, and other merch with favorite song lyrics; generating additional, significant, income from sales, to the retailer station, and to the songwriters and music publishers.
Interestingly, LyricFind was started by three friends attending the University of Waterloo, when they searched the web in the early 2000's for lyrics to a song and realized none of the sites showing lyrics were licensed. After graduating, with the help of Ted Cohen, LyricFind Board Chairman, owner of TAG Strategic, who was at that time the SVP Digital of EMI, they decided to work towards changing all the illegal, unauthorized web lyrics to a fully licensed business and now in the US, lyrics are almost completely licensed for online display through LyricFind and the music publishers. LyricFind's mission and principles are to increase the value and availability of the lyrics (and therefore the songs) in all digital opportunities and in 2017 and 2018, as above, will be adding two new business models, LyricMerch and lyric translations to the options for fans, songwriters, music publishers, and for music distributors, like radio, globally.
Think of your favorite lyrics, whether they are from the 2016 Nobel Literature Laureate, Bob Dylan, or from a pop team writer, or a hip-hop iconic writer, or a folk song, protest song, country song, rock anthem, Reggae, Soul, Blues… Please remember how much these verses and lyric hooks mean or meant to you and then think about how your station and your station’s listeners and potential listeners can engage more with the songs through lyrics in your offerings. I know one music publisher with lyrics tattoo'ed on his arm.