Yahoo / Gracenote's Music Lyrics Search (WSJ comment)

The Wall Street Journal has some good comments on the Yahoo / Gracenote lyrics service that was recently launched. Their main beef: you can’t copy the lyrics. Quote : “But lyric sites are also an example of how disappointing the Internet can be…” This is indeed a very interesting dichotomy: while the publishers indeed think that they have made a major step forward, and Gracenote has done a fantastic and probably very painful job of getting them to agree to this, the average internet user is STILL going to be frustrated, as this is yet another example of ‘wanting to retain control when there is really none left to speak of’ i.e. wanting to turn the web into a READ-ONLY culture (as Larry Lessig puts it so deftly). This is not Gracenote’s or Yahoo’s fault, of course, it’s the Publishers that need to make this shift: Engage not Enrage. Seriously, I mean, if I can use my Mac screen-capture tools to do this why would I not be allowed to copy and paste the lyrics - this is like stream-ripping of online radio stations: it’s just not going to be a big deal if you are concerned about monetizing your creative assets. And you certainly cannot plug that analog hole, ever.

Comments

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