France-based online music streaming platform Deezer has banded together with 14 music industry partners including Canadian lyric solutions company LyricFind and German services company Zebralution for a European Union-funded project to make lyric translation accessible in EU languages.
The EU has granted €2 million for the four-year project called BELEM (Boosting European Lyrics and their Entrepreneurial Monetization) through the Creative Europe Programme (CREA). The project will promote European lyrics and the translations of these lyrics to drive new revenue streams to key players in the music industry.
Additionally, BELEM will also seek to amplify the co-creation and co-production of European lyrics in a bid to add new economic value to European musical and linguistic heritage, according to a press release on Wednesday (December 14).
The participating industry players include Deezer, LyricFind, Zebralution, AMAEI, Bardis, .MUSIC, Fleepit, Independent Digital, Lusitanian Music, Mars Music, Metatron, Nord University, Broma 16, RUNDA and Unison Rights.
According to a press release, through the program, the consortium of music industry players will help music publishers, songwriters, platforms, and labels “democratize and monetize access” to lyrics.
Commenting on the alliance, Ludovic Pouilly, SVP Institutional and Music Industry Relations at Deezer, said: “Lyrics can be a truly powerful addition to a song, and as the home of music and a French-founded company operating worldwide, we understand how challenging language barriers can be for artists with international ambitions.”
Deezer already has an existing partnership with LyricFind, translating more than 10,000 lyrics in four languages, all displayed on the Deezer app.
The French streaming platform’s efforts in translating lyrics comes as it sharpens its focus on its core markets where English isn’t the first language. The company operates in France, Germany and Brazil. It also has a presence in the UK and the US, where Spotify is the dominant market player.
Deezer’s on-demand multilingual translation feature allowed fans to view precise lyric translations with a simple click, according to the latest release.
The BELEM alliance will help artists reach more audiences and allow listeners to better understand the music that they are listening to, Deezer’s Pouilly added.
“Our core mission is to help music fans on Deezer find new favorites and expand their horizons; our work with BELEM will greatly help achieve this goal for the benefit of all,” says Pouilly.
Florian von Hoyer, COO at MusicHub and BELEM Lead on behalf of Zebralution, says lyrics hold a vital function in understanding music, although language barriers present a major obstacle.
BELEM was formed to break down cultural barriers and support artists’ monetization of their works, according to the consortium.
“Through human-translated lyrics, we can help bridge the gap of understanding, expose artists to entirely new audiences, and help those artists to monetize their lyrics and the translations better. This project has a grand ambition — to empower artists and connect cultures to transform European music revenues and understanding,” said von Hoyer.
The consortium of 15 industry players and resources from the EU is expected to make dramatic strides twards improving the diversity and unity of artists and audiences within the EU and beyond, says Robert Singerman, SVP at LyricFind and EVP at .MUSIC.
“Lyrics are exceptionally important — they can move us, make us question our world, or conjure powerful memories and feelings. But for many artists, the language challenge means their art and their stories often don’t reach the audiences they deserve… We can help artists fully unleash the meaning of their songs,” Singerman adds.
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