How To Add Lyrics To Spotify 

The melody and production of a track is a component that helps make your song stand out and mark your presence in the big ol’ world of the music industry. But lyrics are equally important (sometimes even more). Here’s why you should ALWAYS put your song lyrics on Spotify, and on all other possible streaming apps:

 

Putting your song lyrics on Spotify gives a window to your listeners. Lyrics add a lot of personality to your music and enhance the streaming experience for the listener too - making them connect to your music a lot more. It is a way of communicating your feelings and thoughts in a tangible manner.

 

Adding your lyrics on streaming apps like Spotify increases your chances of being ‘valid’ or ‘legit’ as well as getting exposure in terms of Spotify’s algorithmic suggestions and so on. It not only says a lot about your music, but it also gives an insight to your personality. 

 

With the rise of ‘Karaoke Hits’ kind of playlists on Spotify, adding your song lyrics on Spotify is very clever because it could also increase your chances of getting placed in one of those playlists because lyrics play a major role in that kind of playlist. Now that you’ve understood the ‘why’, let’s get to the ‘how’...

 

How To Upload Your Song Lyrics On Spotify

 

The real-time lyrics feature has been launched by Spotify in 26 markets around the world. Listeners in participating countries can view lyrics that scroll onscreen, in sync with the music. Any song uploaded via distribution services does not get its lyrics automatically on all the platforms. Artists have to do it, and a lot of them have yet to learn how to. Here’s how you can upload your song lyrics on Spotify!

 

 

1. Make sure your music is on Spotify.

Let’s clear out the basics first. To distribute your music on Spotify, you need to use a music distribution service. These digital distributors send your tracks to all the major streaming providers, they’re your bridge to Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music and beyond. There are tonnes of music distribution services out there, like Distrokid, CD Baby, AWAL, Amuse and so on, who charge you a little fee to distribute your music to streaming services.

2. Choosing a service to put up your lyrics.

Two big names have been historically known to put your lyrics up on streaming platforms– Genius and Musixmatch. Both these companies are equally competent at putting your lyrics up on streaming platforms, however, only Musixmatch gives you the option of syncing them in time with your song.

Other than that, Genius won’t integrate directly with your music distributor, which results in Genius taking longer to get your lyrics up on streaming platforms. On the other hand, Musixmatch’s main feature is that it’s integrated with music distribution providers, which makes lyric delivery to Spotify and other streaming platforms faster.

We’ll be explaining to you how to use both these platforms.

3. Putting up your lyrics via Genius.

If you want to go with the trusty old, tried-and-tested service, we got you. Uploading your lyrics in Genius’ catalogue is a pretty straightforward process. Here’s how it works.

• You need to register an account with Genius.
• Create your album or single with the lyrics for each song.

• Once your lyrics are in Genius it will take several days for your lyrics to show up in Spotify.

4. Putting your lyrics up via Musixmatch

If Musixmatch is more up your alley with the faster publishing and the time-synced lyrics, here is how you go about the platform.

• Create an account with Musixmatch.
• Get verified as an artist by filling out a form (https://about.musixmatch.com/artists/verified-artist)

 

• Connect your streaming service.
• Play your song. Play it from iTunes, Spotify, Windows Media Player, it doesn’t matter.
• Click “Add lyrics” and type in your lyrics.

• Hit “Save”

After this, your lyrics should be published on all streaming platforms within a few hours.

5. Time-syncing your lyrics in Musixmatch.

We get it, the time-synced lyrics feature is just too cool. Here’s how you go about it.

• Download the Musixmatch app for mobile.
• Search for your song.
• Confirm that the lyrics appear. The lyrics wouldn’t be time-synced as of yet.

 

• Connect the app to a streaming platform, like Spotify.
• Click the “Play” button for the song.
• Click “Sync Lyrics”.

 

 

• Use the down-arrow button to scroll through the lyrical lines in time with the music.

 

 

• When you’re done, hit “End of lyrics”. And you’re set!

 

 

• You could also add credits once you have successfully added and synced your lyrics on MusixMatch. This is to give credit to everyone who has worked with you on the track - music producers, songwriters, and so on (more on this later).

 

Transcribing Song Lyrics Using MusixMatch

 

If you are releasing songs in your native language, like Spanish or Korean, you could add translation to your original lyrics along with the English version and it could play side by side for those listeners who’d wish to see the English translation and understand your lyrics better. 

Note that this feature is available only in selected countries as of now. Make sure you check and use the latest version of Spotify for Desktop. 

 

1. Listen To Your Song On Spotify

You would have written your track in your original language - let’s say Japanese. Listen to that track on Spotify. Check if your original songwriting match with the final lyrics you went with. 

 

2. Add lyrics - The English Version First

Before you add the original lyrics in your native language, you are supposed to add the English version of the song first.  

If you have collaborated with an artist, then add lyrics to the parts you have transcribed. With MusixMatch’s Tag Window, you could tag the lyrics to the artist who has sung it, so your listeners will not only know your lyrics but will also know who sang which part. With the same tag window, you could give credit to those who worked on the song as well. 

3. Transcribe all the repeated sections too.

Don’t mention the repeated lines using multipliers.

This is right: 

I’ve Got You

I’ve Got You 

This is wrong:

I’ve Got You x2

 

4. Transcribe the lyrical melodies only 

Add lyrics to the parts of the track that have been sung, do not transcribe instrumental bridges. 

 

5. Add the original lyrics - Native Scripts

Add the lyrics of your song to the native scripts. Again, make sure you listen to the whole track while transcribing your lyrics, and don’t transcribe in romanization. 

Not every country has this feature yet but every artist should still make sure to have all their lyrics entered into Musixmatch. This way, your music will be available in all the other markets that do have the feature up and running. For future releases, make sure to sign up to become a Verified Artist on Musixmatch and fill out the New Release Form to ensure your lyrics are available in time for your next release.

And voila! Now your lyrics will be visible each time a fan streams your song or adds it to their story via Instagram music. Very dapper.

 

We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now!