ArtistDirect Teams With Labels for New Lyrics Database

Music and entertainment site ArtistDirect will branch out and start posting song lyrics sometime this fall with the goal of becoming one of the Net's biggest and most accurate lyric sites. Unlike other sites -- which frequently take their (often-misinterpreted) lyrics from an aggregator or fan sites -- ArtistDirect is pursuing its own licensing deals with music publishers to ensure accuracy. ArtistDirect, which launched way back in 1997, already has deals in place with Universal Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing -- according to Variety, 1 million EMI songs' lyrics will be included.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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