A number of lyric applications are about to lose their source of lyrics. Sean Colombo of LyricWiki has informed them that due to licensing restrictions from some of the major publishers, LyricWiki has to stop providing lyrics through the LyricWiki API. People were using this to run various applications, such as connecting lyrics to Last.fm profiles, iPhones or websites. It’s a shame, of course, to see talented programming be short-circuited. But it was only a question of time.

A pretty large business has been built on the back of song lyrics, and the lyric writers usually see neither recognition (as very few sites credit the actual songwriters) nor any financial benefits. Meanwhile, considerable amounts of money are changing hands through the advertising on these sites.

However, I’d recommend that the best programmers get in touch with publishers or MP3 or streaming product developers to try and bring their applications to the next level. Interest in lyrics is not going to die, and appliances and services might be interested in licensing applications.

Shake for lyrics

…it also sounds like a technique used by surrealists (and reportedly David Bowie) who used to cut up sentences, throw them on the table and work from that. At the end of the day, whatever gets those songwriting juices going is fine by me. If I was in a philosophical mood, I’d write a piece about it being a bit disappointing that people prefer to shake a phone on their own rather than sit down and write something memorable with another songwriter, or ring up a colleague and bounce ideas around. Luckily I’m in a good mood. Besides, the result couldn’t be much different from some Duran Duran lyrics I’ve read.

Having said that, I still use a pencil and paper to write lyrics, at least in the early stages. But if you’re interested, check the Song Generator. Let me know what you think if you try it.