LRC (file format)
LRC 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 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 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.
File format
Core format
The original LRC format is formed of two types of tags, with one tag per line. Time tags have the formatlyric, 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.Line 1 lyrics
Line 2 lyrics
Repeating lyrics
...
Last lyrics line
ID tags may optionally appear before the lyrics, although some players may not recognize or simply ignore this. The format of an ID tag is
type is the tag type and value its value. 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 |
by | Author of the LRC file |
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.
Naku Penda Piya-Naku Taka Piya-Mpenziwe
Some more lyrics...
...
Extensions
Several extensions to the format have been created to introduce new functionality.Walaoke extension
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 ofM:, 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.Line 1 lyrics
F: Line 2 lyrics
M: Line 3 lyrics
Line 4 lyrics
D: Line 5 lyrics
Line 6 lyrics
Using blue for male, red for female, and pink for duet, the lines will have the following colours:
- Line 1 will use the default color, as there is no gender specifier;
- Line 2 will use red;
- Line 3 will use blue;
- Line 4 will continue to use blue, as no change has been specified;
- Line 5 will use pink; and
- Line 6 will continue to use pink.
A2 extension (Enhanced LRC format)
The A2 extension to the 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. This allows the player to highlight each word when it needs to be sung, for example. An example is given below.<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
<00:07.67> 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
<00:14.32> 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
LRC was first introduced by Taiwan-based Kuo Shiang-shiang's Lyrics Displayer in 1998, with an accompanying plug-in for Winamp. 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 and M6 Mini Player, Creative Labs' MuVo V100, Archos 5, various Sony Walkman players, Transcend's MP330, 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
| Software | Lyrics Display | LRC Editor | LRC Search and Download | LRC Database |
| LRCGET | ||||
| Foobar2000 | ||||
| Musicolet Music Player for Android | ||||
| AutoLyric | ||||
| for Android Devices | ||||
| Vanilla Music | ||||
| OSD Lyrics | ||||
| Kodi / Boxee | ||||
| MusicBee | ||||
| Jellyfin | ||||
| LRC-Lyricist | ||||
| Lyric Potato | ||||
| LineSpec displays lyrics in combination with a few media players | ||||
| YouTube Movie Maker | ||||
| Lyrimer | ||||
| Neutron Player for Android Mobile Devices | ||||
| AIMP | ||||
| Retro Music Player | ||||
| Medoly | ||||
| OneStagePlayer | ||||
| mpv | ||||
| Lyrics Jukebox | ||||
| SubtitleEdit | ||||
| Poweramp | ||||
| KMPlayer | ||||
| lrcShow-X | ||||
| StepMania | ||||
| Plex (software) | ||||
| Winamp | ||||
| Windows Media Player Legacy | ||||