LRC (file format)

Filename extension	.lrc
Magic number	None formally
Developed by	None
Type of format	Timed text
Container for	lyrics and their order and timings
Open format?	Yes

LRC (short for LyRiCs) is a computer file format that synchronizes song lyrics with an audio file, such as MP3, Vorbis or MIDI. When an audio file is played with certain music players on a computer or on modern digital audio players, the song lyrics are displayed. The lyrics file generally has the same name as the audio file, with a different filename extension. For example, song.mp3 and song.lrc. The LRC format is text-based and similar to subtitle files.

File format

Simple format

Simple LRC format was introduced by Taiwan-based Kuo (Djohan) Shiang-shiang's Lyrics Displayer. It was one of the first programs, if not the first, that attempted to simulate Karaoke performance. It usually displays a whole line of lyrics, but it is possible to display a word at a time, such as one would see in modern Karaoke machines, by creating a time tag for each word rather than each line. Kuo's Lyrics Displayer was created in 1998 and was accompanied with a plug-in for Winamp.

The Line Time Tags are in the format [mm:ss.xx] where mm is minutes, ss is seconds and xx is hundredths of a second. Basic example:

[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 appear before the lyrics, although some players may not recognize or simply ignore this.

[ar:Lyrics artist]

[al:Album where the song is from]

[ti:Lyrics (song) title]

[au:Creator of the Songtext]
[length:How long the song is]
[by:Creator of the LRC file]

[offset:+/- Overall timestamp adjustment in milliseconds, + shifts time up, - shifts down i.e. a positive value causes lyrics to appear sooner, a negative value causes them to appear later]
 
[re:The player or editor that created the LRC file]

[ve:version of program]

Example with ID tags:

[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 ...
...

Walaoke extension: gender

Available only in Walaoke from Walasoft. The ability to change and specify the gender of the lyrics by using M: Male, F: Female, D: Duet.

Example:

[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

Let's say we use blue for male, red for female and pink for Duet.

1. Line 1 will use the default color (blue) when no tag is found.
2. Line 2 lyrics start with red when F: is found.
3. Line 3 lyrics start with blue when M: is found.
4. Line 4 lyrics stays blue when no tag is found.
5. Line 5 lyrics start with pink when D: is found.
6. Line 6 lyrics stays pink when no tag is found.

A2 extension: word time tag

Enhanced LRC format is an extension of Simple LRC Format developed by the designer of A2 Media Player.

The differences:

• The line timestamp is the end of the previous word.
  • This allows LRC players to determine the duration of the previous word, and when to display the next line.
• Adds a Word Time Tag in the format: <mm:ss.xx>.

Format example:

[mm:ss.xx] <mm:ss.xx> line 1 word 1 <mm:ss.xx> line 1 word 2 <mm:ss.xx> ... line 1 last word <mm:ss.xx>
[mm:ss.xx] <mm:ss.xx> line 2 word 1 <mm:ss.xx> line 2 word 2 <mm:ss.xx> ... line 2 last word <mm:ss.xx>
...
[mm:ss.xx] <mm:ss.xx> last line word 1 <mm:ss.xx> last line word 2 <mm:ss.xx> ...  last line last word <mm:ss.xx>

Example of an Enhanced LRC file:

[ar: Jefferson Airplane]
[al: Surrealistic Pillow]
[au: Jefferson Airplane]
[length: 2:58]
[by: lrc-maker]
[ti: Somebody to Love]

[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

Support

Hardware or OEM Software

• Huawei's, Samsung's, and Xiaomi's smartphone built-in Music Player
• Meizu's M3 Music Card and M6 Mini Player
• Creative Labs' MuVo V100
• Archos 5, when LRC file found with the same name as the song
• Rockbox compatible devices. See Manual entry
• Nokia's Symbian devices: "Music Player with lyrics available for selected software versions of Nokia 5800XM, X6 and 5230"
• Sony NWZ-E350 Series/E450 Series/E460 Series/E470 Series/A15/A17 Walkman; Sony Tablet S (With an embedded music player based on Android)
• Caanoo, when LRC file found with the same name as the song
• GP2X Wiz, when LRC file found with the same name as the song
• TEAC MP-222, when LRC file found with the same name as the song
• Transcend's MP330, when LRC file found with the same name as the song
• Cocktail Audio X40, X50 when LRC file found with the same name as the song

Software

Modern Applications

• Musicolet Music Player for Android (supports Creating and Viewing synchronized lyrics in LRC format)
• Akari's LRC Maker (open-source online simple LRC maker/editor) (GitHub link)
• LyricsX (open-source, MacOS App Store approved application to view lyrics on screen and/or Touch Bar of MacBooks) (App Store link) (GitHub link)
• LRC Maker (online simple and enhanced LRC maker/editor)
• KaraFun Player (a third-party application that can visualise both simple and enhanced lrc files)

Other

• Tauon Music Box (for Linux)
• Sony Media Go (for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, Create and edit lyrics)
• K-Multimedia Player
• lrcShow-X (free software for X Window System, uses D-Bus to communicate with audio player)
• MiniLyrics (for Windows, Mac OS X & Android, own a large LRC database)
• StepMania
• OSD Lyrics (for Linux)
• Kodi (up to v15) / Boxee
• Plex
• Foobar2000 (with foo_uie_lyrics component)
• Mediabox (for Nokia Maemo)
• ptlyrics (for Palm OS)
• MusicBee
• LineSpec displays lyrics in combination with a few media players
• YouTube Movie Maker (can make lyric videos)
• Lyrimer
• Neutron Player for Android Mobile Devices
• AutoLyric
• AIMP (with WebLyrics v0.2 Preview and MyClouds plugin)
• Retro Music Player
• Medoly (for Android, also supports Enhanced LRC formats and other lyric formats)
• LRCMakerPro for Android Devices
• Vanilla Music (with Lyrics search plugin)
• OneStagePlayer
• mpv
• SubtitleEdit
• Poweramp (beta)[1]

See also

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