LRC (file format)

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File format

Filename extension|

.lrc

|

Magic number| None, formally
Developed by| None
Type of format| Timed text
Container for| Song lyrics (with their timings in the song)
Open format?| Yes
Free format?| Yes

LRC (short for lyrics) is a computer file format that synchronizes song lyrics with an audio file, such as MP3, AAC, or MIDI. It allows for compatible media player software (including digital audio players) to display song lyrics synchronously with a playing song. The lyrics file has the same name as the audio file, just with a different filename extension, and operates as a sidecar file. For example, if a song's main file is `song.mp3`, its LRC file would most be `song.lrc`. The LRC format is text-based and similar in form to subtitle files. It can be manually created and written in a text editor but purpose-made software has been made to ease and automate the creation of lyrics files. Various websites operate providing ready-made LRC files for songs to be downloaded. There also exist software that mass-download LRC files from song lyrics databases, automating the process to the user.[1][2]

## File format

[edit]

### Core format

[edit]

The original LRC format (sometimes called the Simple LRC format) is formed of two types of tags (time tags and optional ID tags), with one tag per line. Time tags have the format `[mm:ss.xx]lyric` , where `mm` is minutes, `ss` is seconds, `xx` is hundredths of a second, and `lyric` is the lyric to be played at that time. A basic example with just time tags is below.

[00:12.00]Line 1 lyrics
[00:17.20]Line 2 lyrics

[00:21.10][00:45.10]Repeating lyrics (e.g. chorus)
...
[mm:ss.xx]Last lyrics line

ID tags may optionally appear before the lyrics,[3] although some players may not recognize or simply ignore this[citation needed]. The format of an ID tag is `[type:value]`, where `type` is the tag type and `value` its value (most often some text). The different possible tag types are tabulated below.

Tag type  | Tag purpose

|

`ti` | Title of the song
`ar` | Artist performing the song
`al` | Album the song is from
`au` | Author of the song
`lr` | Lyricist of the song
`length` | Length of the song (`mm:ss`)
`by` | Author of the LRC file (not the song)
`offset` | Specifies a global offset value for the lyric times, in milliseconds. The value is prefixed with either `+` or `-`, with `+` causing lyrics to appear sooner
`re`/`tool` | The player or editor that created the LRC file
`ve` | The version of the program
`#` | Comments

A more comprehensive example with both ID and time tags is given below.

[ar:Chubby Checker oppure  Beatles, The]
[al:Hits Of The 60's - Vol. 2 – Oldies]
[ti:Let's Twist Again]
[au:Written by Kal Mann / Dave Appell, 1961]
[length: 2:23]

[00:12.00]Naku Penda Piya-Naku Taka Piya-Mpenziwe
[00:15.30]Some more lyrics ...
...

### Extensions

[edit]

Several extensions to the format have been created to introduce new functionality.

#### Walaoke extension

[edit]

The Walaoke extension, available only in Walaoke from Walasoft, allows the specification of parts for a male-female duet. This is done through the use of `M:` , `F:` , and `D:` at the start of a line for male, female, and duet lines respectively. This allows them to be displayed in different colours. This is illustrated with an example below.

[00:12.00]Line 1 lyrics
[00:17.20]F: Line 2 lyrics
[00:21.10]M: Line 3 lyrics
[00:24.00]Line 4 lyrics
[00:28.25]D: Line 5 lyrics
[00:29.02]Line 6 lyrics

Using blue for male, red for female, and pink for duet, the lines will have the following colours:

1. Line 1 will use the default color (blue), as there is no gender specifier;
2. Line 2 will use red;
3. Line 3 will use blue;
4. Line 4 will continue to use blue, as no change has been specified;
5. Line 5 will use pink; and
6. Line 6 will continue to use pink.

#### A2 extension (Enhanced LRC format)

[edit]

The A2 extension to the LRC format (also called the Enhanced LRC format) was introduced by the A2 Media Player, and adds the ability to specify the time individual words are sung. These word time tags are identical to the standard line time tags, but use angle brackets instead of square ones (i.e. `<mm:ss.xx>`). This allows the player to highlight each word when it needs to be sung, for example. An example is given below.

[ti: Somebody to Love]
[ar: Jefferson Airplane]
[al: Surrealistic Pillow]
[lr: Lyricists of that song]
[length: 2:58]

[00:00.00] <00:00.04> When <00:00.16> the <00:00.82> truth <00:01.29> is <00:01.63> found <00:03.09> to <00:03.37> be <00:05.92> lies
[00:06.47] <00:07.67> And <00:07.94> all <00:08.36> the <00:08.63> joy <00:10.28> within <00:10.53> you <00:13.09> dies
[00:13.34] <00:14.32> Don't <00:14.73> you <00:15.14> want <00:15.57> somebody <00:16.09> to <00:16.46> love

## Software and support

[edit]

LRC was first introduced by Taiwan-based Kuo (Djohan) Shiang-shiang's Lyrics Displayer in 1998, with an accompanying plug-in for Winamp.[4] Over the years many devices and software started supporting the LRC format, including:

* Portable media players, various models such as Meizu's M3 Music Card[5] and M6 Mini Player, Creative Labs' MuVo V100, Archos 5, various Sony Walkman players, Transcend's MP330,[6] TEAC MP-222, and Rockbox compatible devices
* Smartphones using built-in music players such as those of Huawei, Samsung, Oppo, Realme, Vivo and Xiaomi, as well as Nokia's older Symbian devices like the 5800 XpressMusic

* Other handheld devices such as the Caanoo and GP2X Wiz game consoles and the Sony Tablet S using its embedded player
* Non-portable home devices such as Cocktail Audio X40, X50

Below is a table of various LRC software available for PCs or smartphones that may support playing music using LRC, that can create and edit LRC files, and that can search and download LRC data:

Software | Lyrics Display | LRC Editor | LRC Search and Download | LRC Database

|
|
|
|

LRCGET[7] (Utility for mass-downloading LRC lyrics)  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes
MiniLyrics (for Windows, macOS, Android, own a large LRC database)  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes
Foobar2000 (with OpenLyrics component)  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
Karaoke Lyric Editor (free cross-platform lyrics editor and exporter for Karaoke formats)  | Yes  | Yes  |  |
Musicolet Music Player for Android (supports Creating and Viewing synchronized lyrics in LRC format)[8] | Yes  | Yes  |  |
LyricsX (open-source, macOS App Store approved application to view lyrics on screen and/or Touch Bar of MacBooks) (App Store link) (GitHub link)  | Yes  |  | Yes  |
AutoLyric[9] (plugin for some Windows media players)  | Yes  |  | Yes  |
LRCMakerPro for Android Devices  | Yes  |  | Yes  |
Vanilla Music (with Lyrics search plugin)[10] | Yes  |  | Yes  |
Tauon Music Box (for Linux, Windows and macOS)  | Yes  |  | Yes  |
OSD Lyrics (for Linux)[11] | Yes  |  | Yes  |
Kodi (up to v15[12]) / Boxee | Yes  |  | Yes  |
MusicBee (with plugin)  | Yes  |  | Yes  |
Jellyfin[13] (since v10.9.0[14])  | Yes  |  | Yes  |
LRC Maker (online simple and enhanced LRC maker/editor)  | No  | Yes  |  |
Akari's LRC Maker (open-source online simple LRC maker/editor) (GitHub link)  | No  | Yes  |  |
LrcGenerator (online simple LRC maker/editor with a lot of advertising)  | No  | Yes  |  |
LRC-Lyricist[15] | No  | Yes  |  |
Lyric Potato[16] (AI tool for automatically generating timed text transcriptions)  | No  | Yes  |  | No
KaraFun Player (a third-party application that can visualise both simple and enhanced lrc files)  | Yes  |  |  |
LineSpec [17] displays lyrics in combination with a few media players  | Yes  |  |  |
YouTube Movie Maker[18] (can make lyric videos)  | Yes  |  |  |
Lyrimer[19] | Yes  |  |  |
Neutron Player for Android Mobile Devices[20] | Yes  |  |  |
AIMP | Yes  |  |  |
Retro Music Player[21] (offline music player for Android)  | Yes  |  |  |
Medoly (for Android, also supports Enhanced LRC formats and other lyric formats)  | Yes  |  |  |
OneStagePlayer [22] | Yes  |  |  |
mpv | Yes  |  |  |
Lyrics Jukebox[23] | Yes  |  |  |
SubtitleEdit [24] |  |  |  |
Poweramp[25] (for Android)  | Yes  |  |  |
KMPlayer | Yes  |  |  |
lrcShow-X (free software for X Window System, uses D-Bus to communicate with audio player)[26][4] | Yes  |  |  |
StepMania[27] | Yes  |  |  |
Plex (software)[28] | Yes  |  |  |
Winamp (using Winamp Lyrics plugin)[29] | Yes  |  |  |
Windows Media Player Legacy (using Lyrics Plugin)[30] | Yes  |  |  |

## See also

[edit]

* Karaoke and *.kar files.
* CD+G
* MP3+G
* Timed text

## References

[edit]

1. ^ KomalSrivastava@TWC (2021-07-17). "What is LRC file? How to create an LRC file in Windows 11/10?". The Windows Club. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
2. ^ Gower, Evan (2021-01-27). "How To Automatically Add Lyrics to MP3 Files". Alphr. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
3. ^ "How to get or make LRC for your favorite songs". mobile-mir.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016.
4. ^ a b "Kuo's Lyrics Displayer for Winamp". www.fortunecity.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 1999. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
5. ^ Meizu: M3 Music Card
6. ^ Lyrics Sync; Sleep Timer; Auto Power off; Date / Time Settings - Transcend MP330 User Manual, p. 26
7. ^ "LRCGET". GitHub.
8. ^ Musicolet's Play Store page.
9. ^ "AutoLyric". autolyric.com. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
10. ^ "Vanilla Music". github.com. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
11. ^ Display Song Lyrics On Desktop In Ubuntu 14.04
12. ^ "Karaoke support has been completely removed as it wasn't functional. 2016". Archived from the original on 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
13. ^ "Music | Jellyfin". jellyfin.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
14. ^ "Release 10.9.0 · jellyfin/jellyfin". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
15. ^ "LRC-Lyricist".
16. ^ "Lyric Potato".
17. ^ "LineSpec".
18. ^ "YouTube Movie Maker". makeyoutubevideo.com.
19. ^ "Lyrimer". Google Play Store.
20. ^ "Neutron Music Player". www.neutronmp.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
21. ^ "Retro Music Player". Retrieved 2024-10-24.
22. ^ "OnStagePlayer".
23. ^ "Lyrics Jukebox".
24. ^ "SubtitleEdit".
25. ^ "Poweramp builds 948-957". forum.powerampapp.com. 2023-01-17. Build 948. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
26. ^ "lrcShow-X in Launchpad". launchpad.net. 27 September 2009.
27. ^ "Song Lyrics - LRC Format". StepMania. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013.
28. ^ "Adding Local Lyrics".
29. ^ https://www.mywinamp.com/winamp-lyrics-plugin/
30. ^ https://www.lyricsplugin.com/