LyricFind has lodged an antitrust lawsuit against lyrics provider Musixmatch and its private equity owner TPG Growth.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday (March 5), alleging eight federal antitrust violations and five state law claims stemming from what LyricFind describes as an “unprecedented” and “exclusive” arrangement that threatens competition across the music industry.
The case centers on a March 2024 agreement that grants Musixmatch exclusive rights to both sub-license Warner Chappell Music lyrics and provide the lyric data to third parties, even those who have direct licensing relationships with WCM.
In a statement issued to MBW, Musixmatch called the accusations “meritless”.
“For over 15 years, Musixmatch has served its customers with the world’s highest-quality lyrics, rights, and data platform,” reads the statement.
It adds: “They value our market-leading offerings and innovative new products that embody our obsessive focus on customers and being the best music lyric, rights, and data partner for the industry.”
The complaint alleges that TPG and Musixmatch conspired to force DSPs to take down lyrics supplied by anyone but Musixmatch.
“That’s not just a hypothetical – it’s exactly what happened with Spotify last year, who had completed onboarding with LyricFind but were robbed on the opportunity to select the lyric provider of its choice.”
Darryl Ballantyne, LyricFind
“After March 20, 2025, DSPs wishing to display Lyric Data for WCM titles will be forced to contract with Musixmatch, and Musixmatch alone, at monopolistic prices,” the court filing stated. The legal document claims that Musixmatch services more than 80% of DSPs by streaming volume and has deals with six of the seven largest DSPs by global subscribers.
LyricFind founder and CEO Darryl Ballantyne, who launched the company over 20 years ago, claims the arrangement with WCM has disrupted business relationships. In an open letter accompanying the lawsuit, Ballantyne cited Spotify as an example of a damaged partnership.
“That’s not just a hypothetical – it’s exactly what happened with Spotify last year, who had completed onboarding with LyricFind but were robbed on the opportunity to select the lyric provider of its choice,” Ballantyne wrote in an open letter published on Wednesday (March 7).
“Spotify was likely just the first – so we are taking action now to protect every music streaming service’s right to partner with the lyric provider of their choice.”
The legal complaint argues the exclusive deal affects not just competitors like LyricFind but also other music industry participants.
“Other publishers, collective management organizations, and songwriters that jointly own and control song rights with WCM are also harmed by the Exclusive because their lyrics must now be provided only by Musixmatch,” according to the court filing.
“Artists and record labels whose works are associated with WCM are now dependent on Musixmatch to provide Lyric Data Services and Lyric Rights Licensing for their songs and cannot do so independently or through another provider,” the legal document continued.
LyricFind, which claims to have facilitated over $25 million in payments to songwriters and publishers in 2024 alone, said the arrangement could especially harm independent artists and smaller publishers who may face reduced royalty payments without competitive options.
Ballantyne noted that indie artists and songwriters are already required by Musixmatch to pay for Musixmatch Pro to have their lyrics on Spotify and Instagram.
“Without competition, how high will that price go? In addition, DSPs may not even be able to accept lyrics directly from artists, labels, and digital distributors for their own recordings if they cover Warner Chappell works without violating the Musixmatch exclusivity,” LyricFind founder and CEO Darryl Ballantyne wrote.
Ballantyne also claimed that the alleged violations by Musixmatch “[seem] to be driven by the classic private equity playbook”.
He added: “Musixmatch is owned by TPG Growth, a giant private equity firm. LyricFind has never taken institutional money. As a result, we’ve always been able to do what we believe is best for music publishers and songwriters, not necessarily what’s best for the investor’s bottom line in the short term.”
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