LRC (file format)

LRC (short for l y r i c s) is a computer file format that synchronizes song lyrics with an audio file, such as MP3, Vorbis, or MIDI. It allows for compatible players (such as modern digital audio players) to display song lyrics synchronously with a song. The lyrics file generally 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, its LRC file would most commonly be. The LRC format is text-based and similar in form to subtitle files.

It was first introduced by Taiwan-based Kuo (Djohan) Shiang-shiang's Lyrics Displayer in 1998, with an accompanying plug-in for Winamp.

Core format
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 , where   is minutes,   is seconds,   is hundredths of a second, and   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, although some players may not recognize or simply ignore this. The format of an ID tag is, where   is the tag type and   its value (most often some text). The different possible tag types are tabulated below. 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
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 of ,   , and    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)
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. ). 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

Hardware or OEM Software

 * Huawei, Samsung, Oppo, Realme, Vivo and Xiaomi smartphones' 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

 * 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)


 * 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 (software)
 * 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)
 * Karaoke Lyric Editor (free cross-platform lyrics editor and exporter for Karaoke formats)