MUMBAI: Sony Music Entertainment (SME) has rolled out a new initiative to add on-demand audio streaming and song lyrics features across its network of artist websites. Fans will now be able to listen to tracks from the catalog of many of their favorite artists, create multiple personalized playlists, and follow along with the words to songs.
Sony Music’s websites will feature on-demand audio players that will make it possible for fans to explore and discover both current hits and previous releases. The sites will also include lyrics licensed by Gracenote, which offers the world’s largest catalog of complete, accurate and licensed song lyrics. Sony Music’s agreement with Gracenote spans all of its label groups in the U.S. and Canada and establishes it as the first music major to broadly offer song lyrics on its artist websites. The roll out will begin in early summer.
The new lyrics service, which complements current features like music videos, artist photos, song recommendations, buy links and customizable playlists, further enhances Sony Music’s websites as go-to destinations for fans to connect with the artists they love. Sony Music’s web network already draws more than 18,000,000 visitors from around the world each month.
"We think fans are going to love the new Sony Music audio players and song lyrics feature. These compelling additions represent our ongoing commitment to creating the most interactive and authoritative official artist pages online," said Sony Music Entertainment president, global digital business, US sales, corporate strategy Thomas Hesse.
"Song lyrics are extremely important to music fans and are among the most searched topics on the Web, so they’re a natural fit for Sony Music’s fan-focused websites. Following the lyrics of your favorite song while you’re listening to it or while you’re watching the video is an exciting way to experience music," added Gracenote president Craig Palmer.
The introduction of the audio players builds on Sony Music Entertainment’s 2006 launch of the MyPlay-branded platform, which includes online video players that are deployed across Sony Music’s web network. There is also a comprehensive Sony Music MyPlay video portal at http://myplay.com/.
