A Message from David Basskin, President of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA)

I'm happy to introduce a company that you've probably already encountered, although perhaps without knowing it. Gracenote Inc., a San Francisco-based leader in digital entertainment technology.

Gracenote is best known for developing the software and technology that brings song titles, album and artist names to users of CD-playing software when they insert CD's in their computers. Hundreds of soft-ware makers have incorporated Gracenote's technology, which draws from an immense database of millions of CD's' worth of song and artist metadata. So, if you've ever popped a CD into iTunes, for instance, Gracenote's technology has been at work behind the scenes.

Last year, Gracenote approached us with an exciting new proposition: they wanted to build an entirely new business in the delivery of song lyrics to music lovers. Up until now, lyrics have not been a money-maker for music publishers. The Internet is full of unauthorized sites which distribute millions of lyrics a day without any compensation to music publishers or songwriters. Gracenote saw a business opportunity in the licensed, legal distribution of lyrics in a wide range of markets, including lyric delivery with the purchase of songs from licensed Internet music distributors.

Gracenote is now in the process of reaching out to the music publishing community to bring them into this exciting new program. While their expertise in technology is deep, they didn't have a background in the complex task of tracking song identification, and publisher information, nor did they have a database infrastructure established to handle the job of providing accountings and royalty distribution to the music publishers who own the rights to the lyrics they want to distribute.

That's where we come in. You know CMRRA as Canada's leading music licensing agency. On behalf of music publishers and copyright owners, we issue licenses and collect and distribute royalties for Canadian mechanical, Internet and synchronization licensing as well as other uses of the reproduction right. Our expertise in tracking song ownership and handling royalty distribution was what Gracenote needed to make the lyric project work.

Last year, we completed a groundbreaking agreement with Gracenote to be their "back office", leveraging CMRRA's expertise in song ownership databases, royalty distribution and our relationships with the music publishing community. We are thrilled to be laying the groundwork for this exciting development and to have the opportunity to introduce Gracenote to you.

This website allows you to enter into an agreement directly with Gracenote for the licensing of your lyrics for online distribution. The grant of rights is from you to Gracenote. CMRRA's role is to supply services to Gracenote to ensure that songs are properly identified and royalties are paid out pursuant to the terms of the agreement they are proposing to you.

As you'll see from information on this site, Gracenote's services will be rolled out first in the USA, with other countries to follow. We think this is one of the most exciting developments to come along in years for music publishers and their songwriters, and we look forward to your participation.

If you have any questions regarding CMRRA's role in the lyrics project, please feel free to contact us at any time.


David A. Basskin
President
CMRRA Ltd.