LRC (file format)

LRC (short for lyrics) is a computer file format that synchronizes song lyrics with an audio file, such as MP3, AAC, or MIDI. It allows for compatible media player software (including digital audio players) to display song lyrics synchronously with a playing song. The lyrics file has the same name as the audio file, just with a different filename extension, and operates as a sidecar file. For example, if a song's main file is song.mp3, its LRC file would be song.lrc. The LRC format is text-based and similar in form to subtitle files. It can be manually created and written in a text editor but purpose-made software has been made to ease and automate the creation of lyrics files. Various websites operate providing ready-made LRC files for songs to be downloaded. There also exist software that mass-download LRC files from song lyrics databases, automating the process to the user.