# Trimming some lyrics sources

**URL:** <https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [July 6, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381 "2020-07-06T00:15:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jtpavlock](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/jtpavlock/32/443_2.png) [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/1 "2020-07-06T00:15:06Z")

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In an effort to cut down on maintenance/testing of some of the lyrics sources and provide a reasonable default for users, I thought I’d start a discussion on which lyrics sources are worth keeping vs which can be cut (if any).

| Independent sources | |
| --- | --- |
| [genius.com](http://genius.com) | ✔ |
| [musixmatch.com](http://musixmatch.com) | [❓to be determined… seems it has some issues](https://github.com/beetbox/beets/issues/2546) |
| [Lyrics Wiki](https://lyrics.fandom.com/wiki/LyricWiki) | ❓ Used to be a great resource, but is closed indefinitely for editing |

| Google sources | |
| --- | --- |
| [absolutelyrics.com](http://absolutelyrics.com/) | ✔ |
| [azlyrics.com](http://azlyrics.com/) | ✔ |
| [chartlyrics.com](http://chartlyrics.com/) | ❌ - seems pretty lacking and not updated |
| [elyricsworld.com](http://elyricsworld.com/) | ❌ - [last update was 2013](https://www.elyricsworld.com/latest_news.html) |
| [lacoccinelle.net](http://lacoccinelle.net/) | ❓ (foreign site) |
| [letras.mus.br](http://letras.mus.br/) | ❓ (foreign site) |
| [lyricsmania.com](http://lyricsmania.com/) | ✔ seems updated at least |
| [lyrics.wikia.com](http://lyrics.wikia.com/) | ❌ we already have it as a standalone which should be more reliable |
| [lyricsmode.com](http://lyricsmode.com/) | ✔ seems updated |
| [lyricsontop.com](http://lyricsontop.com/) | ❌ seems lacking |
| [metrolyrics.com](http://metrolyrics.com/) | ✔ |
| [musica.com](http://musica.com/) | ❓ (foreign site) |
| [paroles.net](http://paroles.net/) | ❓ (foreign site) |
| [songlyrics.com](http://songlyrics.com/) | ❌ Doesn’t seem to be updated any longer |
| [sweetslyrics.com](http://sweetslyrics.com/) | ❌ seems fairly lacking |

Do any of the google sources provide any additional lyrics not covered by the 3 independent sources we have? I can see the foreign sites being worthwhile for music in that language.

Now, I know you can have your own custom search engine for google sources, but I’m just thinking about this for the standard user that generally won’t do that what seems like a good default and from a developer standpoint as far as testing/maintaining goes (not that it’s _too_ difficult).

Thoughts? Maybe the more sources the better.

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**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/2 "2020-07-06T13:16:19Z")

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Awesome; thanks for digging into this! I would also like to hear whether anybody actually currently uses the Google backend… it is kind of a monster, and it’s not 100% clear to me whether it provides significant value on top of the dedicated sources.

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**Author:** ![dorade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b3f665/32.png) [@dorade](https://discourse.beets.io/u/dorade)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/3 "2020-07-06T17:05:44Z")

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I’ve always used the defaults (`google lyricwiki musixmatch genius`). Can’t tell how many results were pulled from `google`, though. Won’t cry if you get rid of it for simplicity’s sake.

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**Author:** ![jtpavlock](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/jtpavlock/32/443_2.png) [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/4 "2020-07-06T17:32:31Z")

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We could get rid of the Google sources, then incrementally add sources if someone has a legitimate use for them over the current independent ones.

Another option could be to keep the Google source functionality, but remove the default search/support and just let people add their own custom search engine if they need something specific be it a language or type of music not typically covered.

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**Author:** ![RollingStar](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/rollingstar/32/728_2.png) [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/5 "2020-07-11T19:40:51Z")

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The LyricsWiki home page: “Please note: this wiki is currently closed for editing. However, you are still free to browse the lyrics pages!”

Not big on putting all the eggs in the Genius basket. They’re the gold standard, but too friendly with record labels and artists. Can you find lyrics for bootlegs on there?

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**Author:** ![jtpavlock](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/jtpavlock/32/443_2.png) [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/6 "2020-07-11T19:47:56Z")

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> The LyricsWiki home page: “Please note: this wiki is currently closed for editing. However, you are still free to browse the lyrics pages!”

Good point. I’m not too sure on the history and whether this is a permanent closure or not. I edited the OP to add that in.

> Not big on putting all the eggs in the Genius basket. They’re the gold standard, but too friendly with record labels and artists. Can you find lyrics for bootlegs on there?

I know it’s a small sample size, but I searched through the couple of bootlegs I have in my collection and they all seemed to pop up.

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**Author:** ![arogl](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/arogl/32/455_2.png) [@arogl](https://discourse.beets.io/u/arogl)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/7 "2020-07-11T23:59:03Z")

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> [@jtpavlock](#):
>
> |[elyricsworld.com](http://elyricsworld.com/)|:x: - [last update was 2013](https://www.elyricsworld.com/latest_news.html)

The [Newest Lyrics](https://www.elyricsworld.com/newestlyrics_1-50.html) are only a day old, so may be worthwhile keeping.

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**Author:** ![jtpavlock](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/jtpavlock/32/443_2.png) [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/8 "2020-07-12T04:04:08Z")

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Yeah that’s definitely a better indication of its activity than the news updates I posted. Still, does it provide anything not covered by genius or the other (seemingly) better candidates that makes it worth keeping?

My goal for the lyrics plugin is to move away from the generic Google search scraping, and towards specific/better support for just a few high-quality sources.

As I mentioned here:

> [@jtpavlock](#):
>
> Another option could be to keep the Google source functionality, but remove the default search/support and just let people add their own custom search engine if they need something specific be it a language or type of music not typically covered

It may be worthwhile to keep the functionality around for user generated api sources. I’m interested to see if people would use that or if it would seem beneficial.

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**Author:** ![Chabula](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/chabula/32/610_2.png) [@Chabula](https://discourse.beets.io/u/Chabula)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381/9 "2023-04-28T12:10:05Z")

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Perhaps this one could also be used

> **[Songteksten beginnend met A | Pagina 1](https://muzikum.eu/nl/songteksten/a)**
>
> Songteksten beginnend met A | Pagina 1

My choice would be indeed better sources for lyrics .  
I Noticed that sometimes another source has the lyric  
I even noticed that a song without lyric ( Seen in Sayonara) could be obtained from Google , while in beet this import fail.