Burnaby business boasts top-trafficked website

Six years ago, Metrolyrics was an after-school hobby for a 16-year-old boy saving up to buy his first car.

Today, the homegrown Burnaby-based business has risen to be the top-trafficked lyrics site on the Internet.

The secret to their success? Doing things the hard—and ethical— way.

As co-founders of MetroLeap Media, which is made up of Metrolyrics plus several other entertainment sites, Alan Juristovski and Milun Tesovic forged a path into the uncharted territory of creating a legally licensed lyrics site.

Tesovic, a 2003 graduate of Burnaby Mountain secondary school, started the company in hopes of earning more than the $8 per hour minimum wage offered by McDonald's.

After two years on his own, the teen joined forces with Juristovski, a chemical engineer with a Masters degree in business from SFU. Both from the former Yugoslavia, the two families developed a close friendship after immigrating to Burnaby. Tesovic's dad asked Juristovski to look at his son's website to provide a second opinion.

"I saw the traffic and the potential. Legality was a big cloud over our heads. Milun and I spent four years to get a copyright license," said Juristovski.

"We are doing certain things right. We are the only lyrics website with licensed content. To the user, it makes a difference that the lyrics are cleared by the publisher so they're more accurate. We have the most comprehensive database so far."

Several months ago, the duo forged a deal with Gracenote, an American company that gets clearance from copyright holders and compensates them for use of their lyrics. Since Metrolyrics is free for users, the four-employee business earns its revenue through big-name advertisers including Best Western and Telus.

"We were fully aware of our copyright issues. There was no system in place. What I'm personally proud of is just to get licensed content and make sure it becomes a product of the marketplace. Somehow we are setting the bar where this can go," said Juristovski.

"We are at a bit of a financial disadvantage. It wasn't easy to do. It took a lot of time and resources. But we are very, very pleased to integrate a new market, especially at a time when the music industry is struggling. We are getting extremely good reception from the music industry and the business industry."

They must be doing something right, since the site can now boast over 22 million unique users each month and over 500,000 licensed lyrics. This week, Yahoo Music is turning to the Burnaby business for advice about how to manage their own lyrics website.

"Lyrics is the number six most-researched item on the Internet. It's not exactly a niche market. You'll grow further than you would in a niche market," said Tesovic, who is finishing a commerce degree at SFU.

"It went from a simple lyric website that was just a hobby to a huge site. It's grown quite a bit."

The web site incorporates user feedback to provide licensed lyrics to songs, video games, TV shows, movies and soundtracks.

jmcfee@burnabynewsleader.com