1. Current supported languages. Currently, the languages our QC Team supports are: English, Español, Français, Català, Português, Italiano. Other languages can still be used and included, but if they are not respecting strictly the following requirements, they could not be accepted by iTunes and they will probably be deleted from the platform. Please, remember that instrumental music cannot include lyrics and its language must always be “no linguistic content”.
2. Structure. Lyrics must reflect the structure of the song. Each sentence must be separated by a single space, and each different section (for example: chorus, verse, bridge…) must be separated by a double space. The first letter of every word at the beginning of a sentence or a parenthesis must be written in capital letters, as well as proper nouns. Please, do not include additional information to the lyrics, such as the chords, the title of the track, the composers, etc. Also, do not write the lyrics only in capital letters or lowercase.
3. Punctuation. The punctuation has to follow the grammar rules of each language. However, stops and commas are not allowed at the end of a sentence, neither repeated punctuation (like “??” or “!!”). Ellipses (“...”) are only permitted to indicate a fade out. Expressions like “x2” or “etc.” are forbidden when it comes to a repetition, the lyrics should be written as many times as they are expressed or they should finish with an ellipse if they fade out.
4. Secondary content. All the lyrics that are related to the main content of the song must be transcribed.
- Background vocals must be indicated in parenthesis.
- Live speeches must be written as long as they do not interfere in the flow of the song. This is only applied to live content.
- Non-word vocal sounds must be transcribed unless it is improvisation (like scatting) or sound effects.
- Spoken word content must not be transcribed.
- Explicit content must be written as it is heard in the song. Please, do not censor the words unless they are actually censored in the song itself. If a part or a full word has been censored in the audio, the part that is missing has to be replaced by asterisks (for example, “f***”).
- If there are different languages in the same track, they have to be transcribed following each language rules (not phonetically).
See an example below of a correct way of writing lyrics:
I live for the applause, applause, applause
I live for the applause-plause
Live for the applause-plause
Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me
The applause, applause, applause
Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)
Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Make it real loud
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Make it real loud
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch
Please, keep in mind that, since these are optional and not mandatory aspects of a release, our Support team reserves the right to erase the lyrics of a track or a whole release in case these rules are not strictly followed.