Lots of people like to use quotes from song lyrics for their everyday use whether in there blogs, social media or any other reason. I know that I am definitely one of those people that hears a song on the radio and fall in love with a certain line and when I get to a computer I search to find out the specific words. As stated in the article, lyrics can be often hard to find, so some people brought it upon themselves to start up their own sites. If these sites are routinely updated then they will grow which happened to Milun Tesovic.
Milun started up a lyrics site that did so well that he started receiving requests from advertisers to advertise on his site in which he would get paid for. In the year 2009 Milun pulled in 10 million in revenue and with this small business he now has an office in Vancouver with a small staff.
According to New York Times songwriters and music publishers are now trying to find out how they can pull in their share of profits from this. This is not an easy task for them to accomplish. There are tons of these sites out there meaning that one could collect from one site but another may publish the lyrics the next day. It also tells us that many of these sites operate from outside of the US which also adds to the difficulty. The conclusion that these publishers have come to is asking sites to publish lyrics from the outset. This then ensures that the publishers/songwriters will get there money and it also makes the sites much more credible!
I always look up lyrics to a song I like if there is a part that I love. I never realized that there was a site that compiled song lyrics. I don't think that the guy should have allowed advertisements because of the copyright laws and everything. It clearly is just going to start a big mess. If they really enjoy what they are doing, the should just leave it how it is without advertisements
ReplyDeleteIm confused by what Lindsey wrote..did this man start a site up that people go to to find lyrics? Or is this combining lyrics from all other songs? If he just started a song lyric checker than I see no problem in that, and also there are a million other sites that serve the exact same purpose as that. However, if he started a site that basically combines lyrics together than I understand what Lindsey is saying, and I have to agree. Although that is a pretty nifty idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm obsessed with looking up lyrics, and every site that I go to has pop up ads or just ads all around the page. I think this is awesome that Milun got that started and did so well that people noticed and wanted a piece of it. I think that is an "industry" that isn't thought about so much (lyrics pages), but how many people go on and look at lyrics? You have so many different types of people, and the advertisements you could put on those pages are infinite. I think Milun started something great. Maybe I should do that. Why do all of the simple ideas get the most money?!
ReplyDeleteFor as long as I've been listening to music, I've been searching lyric sites. I must admit that many of them aren't accurate at all, so it has me wondering about the control these sites have. I hated Facebook for the simple fact that everyone thought it was okay to keep updating their status as a song lyric, which is so annoying to me. I know music may be important to some people, but it gets so redundant after a while. I think artists and labels should find a way to profit from these sites, but not make us pay for it because we already pay to listen to their music. All we want is to actually know what the Lady Gaga or Drake song is actually saying.
ReplyDeleteOnce you bring advertising and money into whatever you're doing, you open up a can of worms. Internet 101, in my opinion. It brings me back to discussions about copyright and remixing songs- what constitutes originality and who ultimately is responsible? A compilation website of lyrics can be associated with the 'remix' while the actual lyrics can be equated to the 'original artist.'
ReplyDeleteCapitalizing on someone else's work is wrong. Maybe if the person had permission to repost this stuff, then I could be more sympathetic toward it, but gaining revenue from posting other people's material? I'll give that a resounding 'Ew.'