Apple Music lyrics give listeners another way to follow a song, understand its story and sing along. They are also part of your public release, so a rushed transcription can leave the wrong words beside the recording for every listener to see.
Independent artists can submit and update lyrics through Apple Music for Artists. This guide explains seven checks to complete before you press submit, using Apple's current instructions and formatting rules.
What you need before you start
Use the final released master, not an early demo or an old lyric notebook. Open Apple Music for Artists on the web, go to Artist Content and select the song. Apple says a song without lyrics will show a plus button. Choose Add Lyrics, then paste the correctly formatted words into the Song Lyrics field.
Read Apple's instructions for adding lyrics
If you have not claimed the correct artist page yet, do that first and confirm that the song appears under the right artist.
Claim your Apple Music for Artists page
1. Transcribe the final audio exactly
Listen to the finished master from beginning to end while checking every line. Do not rely only on the original writing document because words, ad-libs and arrangements often change during recording. Apple's guidelines say the lyrics must match the audio. If a line is repeated four times, write it four times rather than using an instruction such as repeat three times.
Check featured vocals and backing vocals as carefully as the lead. Keep a separate clean copy of the transcription so you can compare later edits without losing the version you submitted.
2. Use line breaks and stanza gaps
Let the structure of the song control the layout. Apple requires lyric lines to be single-spaced, with a double space between stanzas. A new verse, chorus, bridge, hook or major delivery change is a sensible place for a stanza break. Clear spacing helps a listener see where one section ends and another begins.
Do not add headings such as Verse 1 or Chorus unless they are actually sung. The submission should contain the lyrics people hear, arranged in the same order as the recording.
3. Check capital letters and names
Apple says every lyric line must begin with a capital letter and normal grammar rules still apply. Check proper nouns, place names, acronyms and brand names. Religious songs may also need careful capitalisation for words such as God, Him and Your when they refer to divinity.
Compare artist, songwriter and song details with your distributor metadata while you are working. Consistent names help the release stay organised across services.
Use The Hubb's music metadata checklist
4. Remove most end-line punctuation
This rule is easy to miss. Apple says lyric lines should not end with periods or commas. Question marks, exclamation points and quotation marks can appear at the end when needed. Inside a line, follow normal grammar. Use parentheses for backing vocals at the end of a line, with the first word inside the parentheses beginning with a capital letter.
Read the formatted lyrics once without the music. Then listen again while following each line. That two-pass check catches punctuation copied from a prose document and words that sit on the wrong line.
5. Handle vocal sounds carefully
Apple asks artists to use non-word vocals sparingly. Sounds such as ooh, ah or whoa can be included when they add to the song, while improvised scatting is treated as instrumental content and should not be transcribed. Computer-generated effects such as a door slam, car horn or ringing phone should not be written into the lyrics.
Apple's current rules also say spoken conversational content within a song should not be transcribed. When you are unsure, compare the section with the official lyrics guidelines rather than inventing a label.
6. Match explicit and clean versions
For an explicit recording, transcribe the explicit words as they are heard. If a word is partly or fully censored in a clean recording, Apple says the removed section should be represented with asterisks. The label clean should only be used when a corresponding explicit version of the track also exists.
Treat the two recordings as separate checks. Do not paste the explicit transcription into the clean version and assume the edit points are obvious. Play each master and mark every difference.
7. Submit, review and correct problems
After submission, check the public song when the lyrics appear. If the transcription is wrong, Apple Music for Artists lets you open Artist Content, choose the song, select Request a Change under Lyrics, describe the problem and provide corrected lyrics. Keep the correction brief and specific.
Time-synced lyrics are implemented at Apple's editorial discretion, so submitting accurate static lyrics does not guarantee time-sync. Apple also says original-language static lyrics offer the best opportunity for supported translations or pronunciations to appear, but those features are not guaranteed in every language.
Review Apple's full lyrics formatting guidelines
Apple Music lyrics checklist
- Use the final master and the correct artist page.
- Write every repeated line in full.
- Separate song sections with clear stanza gaps.
- Start each line with a capital letter.
- Remove periods and commas from line endings.
- Match explicit and clean recordings separately.
- Check the public result and request a correction if needed.
Accurate Apple Music lyrics do not replace good songwriting, metadata or promotion. They are one careful part of presenting a finished song. Set aside one focused listening session, check the words against the audio and keep your submitted version with the rest of your release records.
