LRC (file format)

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.

Formats

Simple format

Simple LRC format was introduced by 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.

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.

  • Normal example:
[00:12.00]Line 1 lyrics
[00:17.20]Line 2 lyrics
[00:21.10]Line 3 lyrics
...
[mm:ss.xx]last lyrics line

ID Tags may appear before the lyrics,[1] 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]
 
[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 ...
...

Simple format extended

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

Enhanced format

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


Supporting

Hardware
  • Huawei's Standard Music Player
  • Xiaomi's Standard Music Player
  • Meizu's M3 Music Card[2] 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-E353/E354/E355/E463/E475/A15/A17 Walkman. Serie S Tablet (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,[3] 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
  • LRC Maker (online enhanced LRC maker and player)
  • 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)[4]
  • MiniLyrics (for Windows, Mac OS X & Android, own a large LRC database)
  • StepMania[5]
  • OSD Lyrics (for Linux)[6]
  • Kodi (up to v15[7]) / Boxee
  • Plex (software) [8]
  • Foobar2000 (with foo_uie_lyrics component)
  • Mediabox (for Nokia Maemo)[9]
  • ptlyrics (for Palm OS)
  • MusicBee
  • LineSpec [10] displays lyrics in combination with a few media players
  • YouTube Movie Maker[11] (can make lyric videos)
  • Lyrimer [12]
  • Neutron Player for Android Mobile Devices[13]
  • AutoLyric[14]
  • AIMP (with WebLyrics v0.2 Preview and MyClouds plugin)
  • Musicolet Music Player for Android
  • Retro Music Player
  • Medoly (for Android, also supports Enhanced LRC formats and other lyric formats)
  • LRCMakerPro for Android Devices
  • KaraFun Player
  • Vanilla Music (with Lyrics search plugin)[15]
gollark: I... do not.
gollark: That specific combination, or any of them?
gollark: Do you want a balloon? Balloons make everyone happy!
gollark: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
gollark: And my looking-at fodder!

See also

References
  1. http://www.mobile-mir.com/en/HowToLRC.php (dead, but archived)
  2. Meizu: M3 Music Card
  3. http://www.manualslib.com/manual/654475/Transcend-Mp330.html?page=26
  4. https://launchpad.net/lrcshow-x, https://web.archive.org/web/20160402164837/http://www.sanfanling.cn/read.php?267
  5. StepMania: Song Lyrics - LRC Format (dead, but archived)
  6. Display Song Lyrics On Desktop In Ubuntu 14.04
  7. Karaoke support has been completely removed as it wasn’t functional. 2016
  8. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/215916117
  9. http://mediabox.garage.maemo.org/
  10. http://ctuser.net/ctuser.php?nav=2510
  11. http://www.makeyoutubevideo.com
  12. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.ctuser.lyrimer
  13. "Neutron Music Player". www.neutronmp.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  14. AutoLyric - Professional and Power Lyrics Tool
  15. "Vanilla Music". github.com. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
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