Google finally shows song lyrics right in the search results

Ever wondered why Google doesn’t show song lyrics right in its search results, the way it does with movie details, sports scores, and a myriad other trivia?

The reason is licensing: Google – and any other site that makes a profit off song lyrics – has to pay a fee to the song’s right owners, namely artists and publishers.

From today, thanks to a deal between Google and licensing middleman LyricFind, lyrics for millions of songs will show right at the top of Google’s search results. Users will no longer have to visit a third-party website to get their lyrics, and that will let them save a little time and, on mobile connections, some data.

Just type the name of the song followed by “lyrics,” and you should be good to go. Google will show most of the lyrics on the search page, but it looks like you will have to go to Google Play Music to see the complete listing.

Today, the feature is rolling out in the United States only. LyricFind operates an international business though, so it may not be long before we see song lyrics in the search results for the rest of the world. Millions of dollars in licensing fees will reportedly reach artists (but mostly publishers) thanks to the tie-up.

Because this feature only works with LyricFind’s catalogue, not every song you can think of will be available.