Why Doesn't iTunes Include Song Lyrics with Songs?

Just over a year ago, Apple's legal department told a 14 year old girl to shut her pie-hole after she suggested to the company in a hand-written letter that they include song lyrics with songs purchased through the iTunes music store so she could read them while listening to songs on her iPod Nano.

Antony Bruno from Billboard takes a fresh look at the issues surrounding music lyrics, explaining that Yahoo is working on granting now 15-year-old Shea's wish:

Yahoo untangles licensing web for lyrics service

Yet at Yahoo and elsewhere, lyrics remain a notable omission from digital music files either purchased or acquired through subscription models. Not only do consumers not receive song lyrics with their download, they can't search for songs by lyrics within Yahoo Music Unlimited or any other digital music service including iTunes.

The cost of including the lyrics to these files -- primarily the result of the licensing fee -- would either force digital retailers to increase the cost of their service or accept less of an already-thin margin.

Bruno points on in his article that the easiest place to find song lyrics online today is through unauthorized sites. It turns out that those sites are extraordinarily popular for settling lyric debates, figuring out songs stuck in your head, and researching songs one wants to purchase. Yet that same research can't be easily accomplished today using retail music sites like iTunes.

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