LyricsPortal is an initiative from the Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM). This site aims to allow the public to legally access lyrics of Canadian authors for personal and non-commercial uses.

To use song lyrics in a school environment, teachers are invited to use Copibec’s SAMUEL platform. Authors and publishers who wish to have their lyrics listed on this site should register to Évangeline, APEM’s song lyrics database.

Public contributions

LyricsPortal allows the public to submit song lyrics. Visit the Contribute page to learn more.

Context

According to an October 2013 study by David Lowery of University of Georgia, cited by the National Music Publishers Association, there are more than 5 million song lyric searches made daily on Google.

There are numerous sites where such lyrics can be found, but over half of the pages browsed throughout the world belong to illegal sites. These sites, often maintained by users, give access to song lyrics without the authorization of their authors or publishers, often with errors and, most importantly, without remuneration. Yet these sites generate revenue through advertising, but this money doesn’t go into the pockets of authors and publishers.

LyricsPortal aims to fix this situation by offering song lyrics which are authorized by their authors and publishers, free of errors and omissions, and with remuneration.