Yahoo! and Gracenote have announced plans to launch the first industry-backed lyric site. Currently, lyrics on the web are easy to find, but are usually based on either transcribing songs, or copying lyric sheets. Like guitar tabs, the unofficial lyric sites exist in a legal grey area. That loophole was recently closed and an industry-sponsored venture was launched.

The new venture promises to provide actual lyrics, noting:

Finally, a free, legal and definitive way to settle a bet with the guy sitting next to you at the bar who is certain the Ramones' most famous anthem declares, 'I wanna piece of bacon.'

The site will feature official lyrics from the North American catalogs of Bertelsmann AG's BMG Music Publishing, Vivendi's Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, jointly owned by Sony Corp. and Michael Jackson, peermusic and other publishers.