Ahh, lyrics. It’s what songwriters would arguably consider the most essential part of a song.
It’s what DJs use at shows for crowd participation. And lyrics can help write the vows at a wedding or serve as a witty caption on a social media post. With that said, lyrics are a pretty big deal. With all ears on the beat and all eyes on your words, every integral part of the vocals must be accurate and match the audio.
Lyrics are subject to the Apple Music for Artists Terms of Service. Apple may, but has no obligation, to use provided lyrics and may adjust lyrics for stylistic reasons.
General formatting
The structure of a song must dictate a lyric’s format and structure. When transcribing lyrics, it is important to separate the lyrical sections and changes within a song with line and section breaks. All lyric lines must be single-spaced and a double space must separate each stanza.
If unsure when to input a line or section break, some common identifiers are:
- A defined chorus, verse, intro, bridge, or hook
- Changes in the song tempo
- Changes in how the artist delivers the lyrics (from singing to rapping)
Capitalization
Capitalization in your lyrics must follow traditional grammar rules. Proper nouns must be capitalized. Additionally, all lyric lines must begin with a capital letter.
Here are examples of words that must be capitalized:
- Acronyms (NASA, FBI)
- Brand names
- Divinity and religious intricacies (“God,” “You,” “Him,” “Your” in religious songs)
- Geographical location (East Coast, Southside, etc.)
- The first letter of the first word contained in parentheses
- Title casing
Punctuation
There must be no periods or commas at the end of any lyric line. Exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks must be the only end-line punctuation and must be included as needed. Within the line, it is most important to follow traditional grammar rules.
- Hyphens: dropped words, spelled out words, and acronyms (L-Y-R-I-C-S)
- Parentheses: background vocals must be wrapped in parentheses at the end of a line, with the first letter capitalized
- Apostrophe: for certain slang and contractual modifications (’Rari for Ferrari)
Repeated lines
The lyrics must match the audio. If a line is repeated, it must be written out.
Correct:Until you respect me and my dogsI’ll keep barking up the wrong treeI’ll keep barking up the wrong treeI’ll keep barking up the wrong treeI’ll keep barking up the wrong tree
Incorrect:Until you respect me and my dogsI’ll keep barking up the wrong tree(Repeat x3)
Spoken word
Currently, spoken word/conversational content within a song must not be transcribed.
Non-word vocal sounds
Non-word vocals must be transcribed sparingly and only if they add to the content of the song, either narratively or stylistically.
Improvised scatting is considered instrumental content and must not be transcribed.
Non-lyrical, or harmonious non-word vocal sounds, must be transcribed.
For example: “ooh,” “ah,” “whoa,” as well as onomatopoeia such as “burr” or “skrrt.”
Do not include computer-generated sound effects in lyrics (door slamming, car horn, phone ringing, etc.)
Clean and explicit lyrics
The term “clean” must only be used if there is an available corresponding explicit version of the track. In clean lyrics, dropped and edited content must be represented with asterisks.
If the track is explicit, all explicit language must be transcribed as it is heard in the audio:
Audio: ”I’m the motherfucking man”Lyrics: I’m the motherfucking man
Partially or fully censored words must be completely starred out with asterisks:
Audio: ”I’m the mother(bleeped out) man”Lyrics: I’m the **** manAudio: ”I’m the (bleeped out) man”Lyrics: I’m the **** man
Time-sync
At this time, the time-synced lyrics is a feature that is implemented at Apple’s editorial discretion.
