Lyrics platform Musixmatch to add subscription tier with distribution tool

Founded by CEO Max Ciociola, the global company provides lyrics for digital services including Spotify, Apple Music, Shazam, Google, Tidal and Vevo, and works with more than 500 000 artists like Drake, Billie Eilish and Jay-Z by managing their lyrics directly through Musixmatch.

The platform says the subscription plan will be rolled out in the fourth quarter of 2021 and aims to provide “a self-service platform for all music creators and professionals to verify music credits, claim and administrate copyrights, distribute music and get paid.”

Musixmatch Pro will be packaged as a standalone web and mobile platform, which can be used by artists and songwriters as well as their representatives like publishers, labels and managers.

The service will operate as a “one-stop-shop” for distribution with tools to verify and distribute music, lyrics, visual assets and related metadata, and “every music professional will be able to manage their personal online profile and claim credits for every song that they have ever collaborated on,” Musixmatch said.

The company says credits will appear on Musixmatch websites and apps, and will be made available through an API to its partners. Additionally, the service will enable artists access to a personal wallet, which will display data and royalty statements.

“We want to re-match the recording and publishing worlds through a single-entry point,” Musixmatch said. “In standard music business agreements, musicians earn royalties from their recordings, while songwriters earn through their copyrights. However, given the complexities of the global digital licensing landscape, in particular for smaller songwriters, it has become too onerous and expensive to track and trace royalties globally. As a result, the number of unpaid tracks keeps increasing.”

Interested users can sign up to receive notifications for early access here.