Wikia, the home of fan-based wikis, has acquired the LyricWiki database of licensed song lyrics. LyricWiki users, in return, are now able to use Wikia's custom tools including the Question and Answer section.
Part of the deal is that Wikia secured a licensing deal with Gracenote, so that music publishers will get paid their due royalties.
Wikia is assembling a collection of complementary sites, including Guitarhero.wikia.com, Music.wikia.com, documenting how music is tied to culture, Ibanez.wikia.com, a community centered around guitar maker Ibanez, as well as artist favorites beatles.wikia.com, holdsteady.wikia.com, and ladygaga.wikia.com.
LyricWiki solves two problems: It counteracts the annoying spread of incorrect song lyrics across sites that copy each other by letting the community argue over what the correct words are. And it offers lyrics in a tasteful ad-supported layout, free of the garishness of so many lyrics sites. I'm catching up on REO Speedwagon's "157 Riverside Avenue" right now.
Wikia is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2004 by a team including Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. It has, of course, an extensive Wikipedia entry.