LyricWiki
Encyclopedia
LyricWiki is a lyric
al database
-oriented website. As of August 2011, it is the fourth largest MediaWiki
installation with over 1,600,000 pages. Users on the site can view, edit, and discuss the lyrics of songs, which are also available for purchase from links on the site. The site is powered by MediaWiki
and is searchable by song, artist, album
, genre, hometown, label
, and language. Users are told to be mindful of copyright
while contributing, and copyright violations
are removed upon request.
, Amarok
, Windows Media Player
, iTunes
, musikCube
, foobar2000
, and more. A Mac OS X
Dashboard app has also been made, designed to pull lyric data from LyricWiki as the songs are playing, and then update the ID3
tag for the song in iTunes. This occasionally causes a slight skip in the song while the data is written, similar to that encountered when changing any other ID3 data. LyricWiki has also released a Facebook
application called "LyricWiki Challenge" which is a social, competitive game based on identifying lyrics from popular songs in several genres.
As of August 2, 2009, however, lyrics themselves can no longer be supplied through the API, due to licensing issues.
and soon after won the DreamHost
Site of the Month award for April 2006 which helped jump-start its growth since winners of the contest are announced in DreamHost's monthly newsletter which claims to have over 50,000 subscribers.
Motive Force LLC, the parent company of LyricWiki, was the target of a lawsuit brought forth against it by the National Music Publishers Association
. Currently the site has migrated to Wikia
, which has a blanket licensing arrangement with Gracenote
to provide lyrics.
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
al database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
-oriented website. As of August 2011, it is the fourth largest MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
installation with over 1,600,000 pages. Users on the site can view, edit, and discuss the lyrics of songs, which are also available for purchase from links on the site. The site is powered by MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
and is searchable by song, artist, album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, genre, hometown, label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and language. Users are told to be mindful of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
while contributing, and copyright violations
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
are removed upon request.
API
The site allows programmatic access to the contents of its database through a webservice. This API has been leveraged to create plugins for many media players including WinampWinamp
Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...
, Amarok
Amarok (audio)
Amarok is a cross-platform free and open source music player for KDE, but is released independently of the central KDE Software Compilation release cycle...
, Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
, iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, musikCube
MusikCube
musikCube is a partially open source audio player. Originally created as a fork of wxMusik, it has since been expanded to include capabilities not available in wxMusik. Internally, musikCube uses the proprietary BASS audio library to provide playback support....
, foobar2000
Foobar2000
foobar2000 is a freeware audio player for Windows developed by Peter Pawlowski, a former freelance contractor for Nullsoft. It is known for its highly modular design and extensive SDK which allows third-party developers to do such things as completely replace the interface...
, and more. A Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
Dashboard app has also been made, designed to pull lyric data from LyricWiki as the songs are playing, and then update the ID3
ID3
ID3 is a metadata container most often used in conjunction with the MP3 audio file format. It allows information such as the title, artist, album, track number, and other information about the file to be stored in the file itself....
tag for the song in iTunes. This occasionally causes a slight skip in the song while the data is written, similar to that encountered when changing any other ID3 data. LyricWiki has also released a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
application called "LyricWiki Challenge" which is a social, competitive game based on identifying lyrics from popular songs in several genres.
As of August 2, 2009, however, lyrics themselves can no longer be supplied through the API, due to licensing issues.
History
The site was released in April 2006 by Sean Colombo while a student at RITRochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
and soon after won the DreamHost
DreamHost
DreamHost is a Los Angeles-based web hosting provider and domain name registrar. It is the web hosting branch of New Dream Network, LLC, founded in 1996 by Dallas Bethune, Josh Jones, Michael Rodriguez and Sage Weil, undergraduate students at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, and...
Site of the Month award for April 2006 which helped jump-start its growth since winners of the contest are announced in DreamHost's monthly newsletter which claims to have over 50,000 subscribers.
Motive Force LLC, the parent company of LyricWiki, was the target of a lawsuit brought forth against it by the National Music Publishers Association
National Music Publishers Association
The National Music Publishers Association is the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and songwriters in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of...
. Currently the site has migrated to Wikia
Wikia
Wikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...
, which has a blanket licensing arrangement with Gracenote
Gracenote
Gracenote, Inc., formerly called CDDB , is a company that maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs and vinyl records. It provides software and metadata to businesses that enable their customers to manage and search...
to provide lyrics.