Scrape song lyrics for text analysis

To scrape song lyrics for text analysis, you can use Python with web scraping libraries such as BeautifulSoup and requests, or automation tools like Selenium if the site is JavaScript-heavy. However, you must consider copyright restrictions, as most lyric websites do not allow scraping due to licensing agreements.

Here’s a simple, non-infringing example using BeautifulSoup for educational purposes (assuming you’re targeting a site that legally allows scraping, like one you’ve created or with permission):

python
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import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

def get_lyrics(song_url):
    headers = {
        "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0"
    }
    response = requests.get(song_url, headers=headers)

    if response.status_code == 200:
        soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
        
        # Change this selector based on the target site's HTML structure
        lyrics_div = soup.find("div", class_="lyrics")  
        if lyrics_div:
            return lyrics_div.get_text(strip=True)
        else:
            return "Lyrics not found or selector needs updating."
    else:
        return f"Failed to retrieve page. Status code: {response.status_code}"

# Example usage:
song_url = "https://www.example-lyrics-site.com/song-page-url"
lyrics = get_lyrics(song_url)
print(lyrics)

Notes:

• Replace the URL and class selector based on the specific website’s HTML.

• Sites like Genius, AZLyrics, and MetroLyrics often block scraping and have legal protections. You should refer to their API or licensing if you need large-scale access.

• For ethical and legal scraping:

  • Use APIs where available (e.g., Genius API).

  • Respect robots.txt.

  • Avoid sending excessive requests.

Would you like a script using the Genius API instead?