Rap Genius doesn’t just post song lyrics, they also annotate them. In that way, the company believes, their use of lyrics falls under fair use. They are creating something new. So the Rap Genius team doesn’t think they should have to pay song writers.
But, the company is paying music publishers now, it turns out. This is all spelled out in a recent episode of the Planet Money podcast, when Zoe Chace visits their Williamsburg headquarters and talks about what makes their lyrics site different from others and the present battle lines around the business of posting lyrics online:
If you thought Daft Punk was saying something about a Mexican monkey when they were actually singing “up all night to get lucky” — you’re not alone. There are more than five million searches for lyrics on Google every day.*
And there is a big fight going on over who should make money off those searches: is it the websites who put the lyrics up? Or the songwriters, who put the words together?
Before you go...
Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.
3 ways to support our work:- Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
- Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
- Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!