Support for .LRC Lyrics (Synced Lyrics)

[Audiofile]

As the title says, .LRC lyrics is probably the most common way of synced lyrics, it's really useful for understanding the meaning of the song (e.g. when you aren't sure what's being sang (especially Hiphop), some of the .LRC lyrics are translated and thus helps you understand foreign songs too). Many music on Youtube contain synced lyrics (as subtitles of MV, or directly embedded into video, etc.) for good reasons.

Currently I've tried the "Poweramp LRC Plugin on Google Play" but the experience is unfortunately not good (it creates an overlay on the entire Android screen instead of embedding itself to become part of Poweramp, this feels like a workaround instead of a solution).

Many players support .LRC lyrics (Samsung Music, Musicolet, Oto Music, Retro Music Player, BlackPlayer, FiiO Music, Pulsar Music Player, etc.), so it's actually a very popular feature.

Please kindly consider adding support for .LRC lyrics.

 

[andrewilley]

This is a planned feature, but there is no specific timescale.

Andre

[Itchi Ruiz]

1 hour ago, andrewilley said:

This is a planned feature, but there is no specific timescale.

Andre

tired of waiting sir. 😭

[Audiofile]

2 hours ago, andrewilley said:

This is a planned feature, but there is no specific timescale.

Andre

Thanks for the prompt response, I searched on the forum and realized this has been a much requested feature for around 10 years (since at least 2013), really hope to see the users' wish come true sometime soon. 😢

 

Edit: found a 2010 post requesting LRC support.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Audiofile
found a 2010 post requesting LRC support​​​​​​​.

[Audiofile]

1 hour ago, Itchi Ruiz said:

tired of waiting sir. 😭

I can definitely imagine how you feel (imagine being those who have waited for about 10 years for this feature, almost since when Poweramp came out), I haven't seen the developer anywhere here so I wonder if the developer actually look at this forum (I only see the Administrators andrewilley, but he's not the developer).

We can only wish the LRC lyrics will be given the attention it deserves someday.

 

[Itchi Ruiz]

51 minutes ago, Audiofile said:

I can definitely imagine how you feel (imagine being those who have waited for about 10 years for this feature, almost since when Poweramp came out), I haven't seen the developer anywhere here so I wonder if the developer actually look at this forum (I only see the Administrators andrewilley, but he's not the developer).

We can only wish the LRC lyrics will be given the attention it deserves someday.

 

true 😭😭😭

[6b6561]

+1

[Mark89]

Some of us waiting for other feautures like A-B repeat (since 2010), Smart playlist (since 2012) etc. People from time to time request this things but there's no reply from the main developer @maxmp.

He leaves us only with hope instead of telling us straight, should we hope, (and when or why not) for asked feauture.

It seems for me like he is responding only to minor feature requests. Which is great but we exist too

 

[andrewilley]

Feature Requests often get prioritised by fitting them in around other work in that area of code. For example I would hope A-B Repeat is not lost forever (even if the request is 13 years old) but waiting for a long-planned user customisation feature for the row of control icons under the cover artwork. Perhaps the same applies to my own often-requested updating of the wording of the Repeat icon to use a more logical and user-friendly series of labels such as Play One Song | Play Current Category | Play All Categories | Repeat One Song | Repeat Current Category | Repeat All Categories. If implemented, adding A-B Repeat as a seventh option (probably after Repeat Song) would be a nice idea while working in that area.

Synced Lyrics (including using LRC files) is on the to-do list for the medium term, but I guess might require a bit more extensive work than a simple A-B Repeat. Max has referred to it several times over the last year or so if you want to check out these threads, so it's definitely still on the radar:

Andre

[Mark89]

Thanks for responding.

Yea, he responded to those topics, but I was more curious about @maxmp opinion about Smart/Dynamic playlist feature. Should we expect that feature or not.

As for the A-B repeat, he said 2011 it will maybe implemented in v2.1... But, maybe he forgot.

And as for your request, simplification of repeat icon, I agree 100%. That would be great. I always have advanced shuffle on, but once in a while I turn it off and after some time when I want to turn on shuffle I get little confused 🤨

Sorry for maybe going off-topic above. Maybe one suggestion; I saw topic "ToDo list" it's great idea and it should be pinned on top, but topic seems outdated which is shame because it would be a lot easier for people to see all features that pass to todo list and maybe they could vote. That way people wouldnt create similiar requests and also @maxmp would have a better overview of what people want.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Mark89

[Audiofile]

11 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Feature Requests often get prioritised by fitting them in around other work in that area of code. For example I would hope A-B Repeat is not lost forever (even if the request is 13 years old) but waiting for a long-planned user customisation feature for the row of control icons under the cover artwork. Perhaps the same applies to my own often-requested updating of the wording of the Repeat icon to use a more logical and user-friendly series of labels such as Play One Song | Play Current Category | Play All Categories | Repeat One Song | Repeat Current Category | Repeat All Categories. If implemented, adding A-B Repeat as a seventh option (probably after Repeat Song) would be a nice idea while working in that area.

Synced Lyrics (including using LRC files) is on the to-do list for the medium term, but I guess might require a bit more extensive work than a simple A-B Repeat. Max has referred to it several times over the last year or so if you want to check out these threads, so it's definitely still on the radar:

Andre

Thanks for the referencing, it's good to know that the LRC lyrics is on the radar (I was surprised to see LRC lyrics was on the TODO list since 2011, it's really exciting to see him saying he will soon add it from 2021), btw it would be nice if Max could make it obvious that he's the developer for newcomers (perhaps specify in the signature like you did).

[Audiofile]

[Split out from non-LRC related thread]
 

On 4/14/2022 at 9:41 AM, andrewilley said:

The trouble with sidecar files (separate JPEGs for artwork, LRC lyric files, or anything else) is that they are still separate files and can get mislaid during copying etc, or not seen at all by a lot of apps. If you embed any song-specific content inside the physical audio file (such as using the LYRICS / USLT tag, or as Front Cover artwork) then it becomes permanently linked to that music file whatever you do with it later, and whatever program or app opens it. You can always change it again later in a tag editor if you find more suitable artwork, but usually it would be a once-and-done action.

There are lots of ways to automate the process, but the simplest would be to use a batch Action in MP3Tag on a computer (or other similar programs). All it would take would be to run an action something like the following on your whole music collection: 

Always test it on a subset of files first of course. If your filenames are not the same as the Song Titles, you may need to adjust that format matching string to use filename details instead of the Title tag.

Andre

Thanks for the detailed response,

 

I've actually done tons of research and testing about embedding LRC lyrics (which is always synced) into mp3. Embedding LRC lyrics into USLT frame of ID3v2 tag does work for some players (e.g. MusicBee, foobar2000(with ESLyric / Lyrics Show Panel 3 plugin), WMP(with MiniLyrics), Musicolet, etc.), but it's still not as widely-supported as the seperate .lrc file, mainly because the USLT frame is technically intended for Unsychronised (instead of synced) Lyrics according to ID3v2 standard.

 

In fact, besides embedding LRC lyrics into USLT frame, there're no better way of embedding LRC lyrics into mp3 (based on my research and testing) :

The SYLT frame of ID3v2 tag is for synchronised lyrics, but it uses a different format than LRC, and support for SYLT frame is rare to find (the only program I know that supports SYLT are: MusicBee, MiniLyrics, JetAudio).

You can create a custom TXXX frame (of ID3v2 tag) and name it "LYRICS", but support for that is also very rare (from what I know, only MusicBee, foobar2000(with ESLyric / Lyrics Show Panel 3 plugin), and WMP(with MiniLyrics) supports that).

The Lyrics3v2 tag doesn't even support Unicode.

 

Therefore, there're no standard and also widely-supported way of embedding LRC lyrics into mp3, the best I can do is importing it into an USLT frame, which is still not as standard as a seperate .lrc file.

 

By the way, is support for embedded LRC format lyrics in the USLT frame a planned feature of Poweramp? (Max said "synced/non-synced lyrics + .lrc support" but I don't know if and how he plan to implement embedded synced lyrics, I hope it's the "embedded LRC format lyrics in the USLT frame" way which is probably the most common.)

 

 

[andrewilley]

I don't know for sure how Max plans to implement this, but I would expect some sort of ordered fall-back process depending on what is encountered for any given audio file:

1. SYLT / LYRICS
2. USLT / UNSYNCED LYRICS
3. TXXX:LYRICS
4. LRC sidecar file

In all cases, I suspect PA should look for and parse any provided timing data, even if it's technically stored in an unsynced tag (as that can happen in the wild). 

It might also be worth having an option in Settings to allow the presence of a LRC file to always override the use of any embedded data.

Andre

[maxmp]

@andrewilley "sidecar" file with matching file name takes priority (this way it's possible to easily override embedded lyrics). This is easy to override with some future setting if such requests are made.

[Itchi Ruiz]

RIP🙏 LRC file request 😭😭😭

[andrewilley]

1 hour ago, maxmp said:

 "sidecar" file with matching file name takes priority (this way it's possible to easily override embedded lyrics).

Makes sense, and it'd be easy enough to just delete or rename the file to stop it taking over anyway.

Andre

[Audiofile]

11 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Makes sense, and it'd be easy enough to just delete or rename the file to stop it taking over anyway.

Andre

That's probably the reason why most players prioritize .lrc file over embedded lyrics by default

[Audiofile]

13 hours ago, maxmp said:

@andrewilley "sidecar" file with matching file name takes priority (this way it's possible to easily override embedded lyrics). This is easy to override with some future setting if such requests are made.

Hi Max, I was just curious to know if you plan to support "embedded LRC format lyrics in the USLT frame" while adding the lyrics support? After tons of research and testing I think this might be the best way to embed synced lyrics, and this way you can even view the lyrics in players (e.g. iTunes) that support unsynced lyrics (but not synced lyrics). I will quote my earlier reply below which compares various ways of embedding synced LRC lyrics.

22 hours ago, Audiofile said:

[Split out from non-LRC related thread]
 

Thanks for the detailed response,

 

I've actually done tons of research and testing about embedding LRC lyrics (which is always synced) into mp3. Embedding LRC lyrics into USLT frame of ID3v2 tag does work for some players (e.g. MusicBee, foobar2000(with ESLyric / Lyrics Show Panel 3 plugin), WMP(with MiniLyrics), Musicolet, etc.), but it's still not as widely-supported as the seperate .lrc file, mainly because the USLT frame is technically intended for Unsychronised (instead of synced) Lyrics according to ID3v2 standard.

 

In fact, besides embedding LRC lyrics into USLT frame, there're no better way of embedding LRC lyrics into mp3 (based on my research and testing) :

The SYLT frame of ID3v2 tag is for synchronised lyrics, but it uses a different format than LRC, and support for SYLT frame is rare to find (the only program I know that supports SYLT are: MusicBee, MiniLyrics, JetAudio).

You can create a custom TXXX frame (of ID3v2 tag) and name it "LYRICS", but support for that is also very rare (from what I know, only MusicBee, foobar2000(with ESLyric / Lyrics Show Panel 3 plugin), and WMP(with MiniLyrics) supports that).

The Lyrics3v2 tag doesn't even support Unicode.

 

Therefore, there're no standard and also widely-supported way of embedding LRC lyrics into mp3, the best I can do is importing it into an USLT frame, which is still not as standard as a seperate .lrc file.

 

By the way, is support for embedded LRC format lyrics in the USLT frame a planned feature of Poweramp? (Max said "synced/non-synced lyrics + .lrc support" but I don't know if and how he plan to implement embedded synced lyrics, I hope it's the "embedded LRC format lyrics in the USLT frame" way which is probably the most common.)

 

 

 

[maxmp]

@Audiofile this mostly depends on how many tracks with that tag are "in the wild" just to able to test it. Fast check for LRC format is possible for any source of lyrics.

[andrewilley]

I can't help with sample files I'm afraid, as none of the 7,000+ songs on my phone have any attached lyrics at all (neither embedded or as sidecar files). Zero. I have also never once sung karaoke either - I'm a "listen with my ears" kinda guy.  So it's all a completely theoretical discussion for me.

But if anyone has any real-world examples of files with embedded synced lyrics (not ones you've added yourself) then I'm sure it would help if you could send some samples to Max for testing purposes.

Andre

[Audiofile]

11 hours ago, maxmp said:

@Audiofile this mostly depends on how many tracks with that tag are "in the wild" just to able to test it. Fast check for LRC format is possible for any source of lyrics.

I don't think that most songs "in the wild" are embedded with synced lyrics, as most people who want synced lyrics tend to use separate .lrc files instead. However, I still like Andre's point very much: being able to embed lyrics into the mp3 file makes your library cleaner and easier to manage (many players I mentioned earlier support embedded synced lyrics for that reason, I'm assuming). Unsynced lyrics in USLT frame is more common as it's already natively supported by many players: iTunes, MusicBee, MediaMonkey, Musicolet, JetAudio, foobar2000, etc.

When you said "Fast check for LRC format is possible for any source of lyrics." did you mean that synced lyrics (in LRC format) will be able to auto-scroll regardless of which frame they're embedded in (e.g. USLT, SYLT, TXXX:LYRICS)?

If you need, I can provide samples that have embedded synced lyrics in various ways to help you test the development, those are embedded using software (e.g. Minilyrics, MusicBee, Mp3tag, foobar2000, etc.) instead of "from the wild" though. Or perhaps you could also consider simply creating a few samples (with embedded lyrics) for testing and release the beta to let the users test it for you.

 

 

[Audiofile]

12 hours ago, andrewilley said:

I can't help with sample files I'm afraid, as none of the 7,000+ songs on my phone have any attached lyrics at all (neither embedded or as sidecar files). Zero. I have also never once sung karaoke either - I'm a "listen with my ears" kinda guy.  So it's all a completely theoretical discussion for me.

But if anyone has any real-world examples of files with embedded synced lyrics (not ones you've added yourself) then I'm sure it would help if you could send some samples to Max for testing purposes.

Andre

I feel like most people who want synced lyrics simply want to understand the song rather than doing karaoke (unless they're listening to the off-vocal/karaoke version of that song), even streaming platforms (e.g. iTunes/Apple Music and Spotify) natively support synced lyrics nowadays, you can read more below:

See time-synced lyrics in Apple Music

Spotify's synchronized song lyrics are now available to everyone

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Audiofile

[Squeller]

Is there any news here? My Lyrics have been written to tags - SYNCED_LYRICS and UNSYNCED_LYRICS (IIRC) - via an open source fb2k addon. 

PA already uses both Tags - but I am interested in PA displaying synced lyrics in a readable format. It currently displays it as it is, with all timestamps.

[andrewilley]

Improved LRC support is due in the next main feature release, I don't know how soon that will be though.

Andre

[newbee]

@maxmp @AudiofileWe have a developer here who has made a software that can modify the labels of songs in batches. It is very easy to use. You can refer to it. Thank you!