Yahoo Music is adding lyrics as a point of differentiation compared to other major online music sites. The lyrics to 400,000 songs will be made available with more to be added.

Lyrics have long been available on numerous web sites. But such sites have been unlicensed and so illegal. They also are community-provided and so can be inaccurate.

Yahoo will share revenues from ads displayed on lyrics pages with songwriters. The database and licensing were arranged through Gracenote and include music from the major labels, as well as both old and new artists.