Finally giving credit to the “lyricist” part of songwriting, an interesting article in today’s New York Times talks about growing interest in charging royalties for song lyrics. The article points out:
For decades, printed song lyrics lived in relative obscurity, relegated to album sleeves and sheet music. And until now, they provided no significant source of revenue.
Interestingly, only now that creative entrepreneurs have figured out how to make money from song lyrics have the publishers suddenly shown interest. Most people hosting song lyrics sites apparently did so only as a hobby, often relying on contributing members to post lyrics – and only later discovered that by hosting ads could they generate some revenue for their efforts (and offset expenses, arguably).
As much as I support the argument that those who write the lyrics to our music deserve as much credit as those who write the music (and perform), I’d argue that having overlooked the opportunity, the music industry should forfeit the opportunity. Sharing the words to the songs we know and love is in my view something of a public service – especially when done in a Wiki approach.
And I’d argue it actually already supports the artist. Why do I say that? Ever hear a song on the radio and wonder who performed it (presumably so you can buy it)? Jot down a line from the chorus or a unique lyric, place it in quotes, and drop it on Google. Nine times out of 10, those lyrics sites will take you straight to the answer.
