How to Add Lyrics to Spotify and Apple Music

Lyrics are a part of a release that is easy to believe you sent when you did not. You typed them into a form, the song went live, and a listener opens Spotify and sees nothing, or sees words that have been wrongly split, or sees lines that run a second behind the singer. According to the services’ own help pages, lyrics do not simply travel with the audio and the cover. Each service describes its own route, and one of those routes runs through a company that is neither your distributor nor the store.

This guide explains how lyrics reach Spotify, Apple Music and other places, how the verification steps work as those services publish them, what time-synced lyrics are, which formatting mistakes cause trouble, how long each step takes and what a distributor can and cannot be expected to do. It is practical guidance, not legal advice, and it promises nothing about where your lyrics will appear. The pages we relied on were opened on 26 October 2026, and the list at the end says which ones. Some we could not open, and we say so where it matters.

The routes lyrics take

Where	How lyrics get there	Who submits
Spotify	Spotify says its lyrics are licensed and synced by Musixmatch (outside Japan, where PetitLyrics handles them)	You, through a verified Musixmatch Pro account
Apple Music	Apple Music for Artists has its own Artist Content area where you add lyrics to a song	You, in Apple Music for Artists
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and others	Reported by a third-party guide to be part of Musixmatch’s partner network. We could not open Musixmatch’s own pages to confirm it, and we found no Instagram page that names its lyric source	Check in your Musixmatch Pro account which services the song is sent to
Other services	Varies. Some use other lyric companies, and some show no lyrics at all	Ask the service, or ask WBBT support what applies to the destinations you chose

One rule follows from the table. There is no single place to “add lyrics everywhere”. The practical job is to keep one clean copy of the words and prepare it two or three ways.

What WBBT does, and what it does not say

The WBBT FAQ answers the question directly: prepare accurate lyrics, use the supported delivery workflow, leave out promotional text and unsupported formatting, and remember that availability and synchronized lyrics support vary by destination. Our metadata guide adds the wizard rule that lyrics belong on tracks with vocals and that an instrumental should not carry any.

The published WBBT pages do not say that lyrics typed into a release are delivered to any named service, and they do not say that WBBT creates time-synced lyrics for you. So the honest advice is: enter accurate lyrics at release if the form offers the field, but do not assume they will appear on Spotify or Apple Music, and ask support what your release does with them. If you need synced lyrics on Spotify, the route that service describes is Musixmatch. If you need them on Apple Music, the route that Apple describes is Apple Music for Artists. WBBT support can help with release identifiers and mapping, which both of those steps depend on; it cannot grant you access to someone else’s account.

Spotify, through Musixmatch

Spotify’s help page for artists lays out the steps. Reading them in order:

1. Create a Musixmatch Pro account. Spotify says the free plan, which is listed below the paid options, is all you need to add, edit and sync lyrics. It advises using an email address linked to your artist, label or management company, to speed up verification.
2. Add your artist. In the Roster section, choose Add artist, enter your Spotify artist URL and complete the required fields. Have the right profile link ready, and make sure it is your profile and not one with a similar name. The Spotify for Artists set-up guide explains how to find it.
3. Wait for verification. Musixmatch reviews the submission and, Spotify says, emails you within a few business days, confirming verification or asking for more information.
4. Link your Spotify account if you can. Spotify says a Premium account connected to Musixmatch Pro pairs your catalogue automatically and fetches the audio for syncing. The page also lets you upload audio manually in the Audio tab.
5. Add the lyrics. Open Roster, choose a song from the To Do or Music tab, select Lyrics, enter them and send.
6. Sync them. Choose Sync, set a timestamp for each line while the song plays and send.

If your song is not in the list, the page says to use Music and then Add missing release, and that it may take up to 48 hours to appear. Changes to lyrics or sync, it adds, may take a few days to show on Spotify.

What time-synced lyrics are

Plain lyrics are a block of text. Synced lyrics attach a time to every line so the words can follow the singer. Spotify’s page gives two rules for them: sync each line so that it lines up with the moment its first word is sung, and if the song has several vocal parts, sync the lead vocal. Lines that are consistently a second late are technically synced but feel wrong, so play the track back after you send the timings, with the screen in view.

Apple Music, through Apple Music for Artists

Apple describes a direct route. In Apple Music for Artists, open Artist Content and select a song. A song without lyrics shows a plus button. Choose Add Lyrics and paste the formatted lyrics into the Song Lyrics field, following Apple’s lyrics guidelines. To correct lyrics already shown, select the song, choose Request a Change under Lyrics, describe what needs changing and supply the corrected text in the same format.

Three limits are worth knowing. First, Apple’s guidelines say that submitted lyrics are subject to its terms, that Apple may use them and may adjust them for stylistic reasons, and that time-synced lyrics are implemented at Apple’s editorial discretion. So an artist cannot assume that synced lines will appear. Second, Apple’s FAQ says it reserves the right not to display lyrics because of licensing restrictions. Third, the Apple pages we opened do not say how long it takes for submitted lyrics to appear, and do not say whether only released songs can be given lyrics, so we give no timing here.

One of Apple’s help pages is older in tone. Its FAQ says that Shazam receives lyrics from Musixmatch and tells artists to contact Musixmatch to submit or change lyrics, while the newer pages describe the direct route above. The pages carry no revision dates, so we treat the Artist Content route as current for Apple Music itself, and suggest checking Musixmatch for Shazam. If the two seem to contradict each other on your account, ask Apple Music for Artists support.

Whose lyrics are they?

The words of a song belong to its writers and publishers, which is a different right from the recording. Submitting lyrics is a statement that you are entitled to. Apple’s own page on lyrics points publishers to a licence portal for granting lyrics rights, which tells you that rights are part of the picture for lyric display. A few cases need care.

• Your own song, your own words. Straightforward, as long as the co-writers agree. Agree splits in writing first; see royalty splits and payouts.
• A cover. The recording is yours, but the lyrics are not. The cover-song licensing guide explains why, and a rights holder or lawyer should answer any doubt.
• A leased beat or sample with lyrics. Check what the licence says about the words. The guide to releasing a song made on a leased beat lists the questions to ask.
• AI-written lyrics. The rules on ownership are unsettled in many countries, and the services may ask what you did. See distributing AI music before you submit them as your own work.

Formatting: the two rule sets differ

The services publish different rules, and a lyric sheet that satisfies one can break the other. This table gives only what the pages say.

Point	Spotify (Musixmatch)	Apple Music
Repeats	Transcribe in full. No shorthand such as “x2”	Write out every repetition. No shorthand such as “(Repeat x3)”
Which words	Only the sung words	Spoken word and conversation inside a song must not be transcribed; non-word vocals sparingly
Section labels	Tags such as #VERSE and #CHORUS	Not addressed. Sections are shown by line and section breaks
Line layout	Not specified on the page	Single-spaced lines, a double space between stanzas
Capitalisation and punctuation	Not specified	Capital letter at the start of every line; no full stop or comma at the end of a line
Background vocals	Not specified	In parentheses at the end of the line
Script	The song’s native script	Not addressed
Explicit and clean	Not specified	Explicit words as heard, with partly or fully censored words starred; “clean” only if an explicit version exists

Neither page lists the reasons a submission is declined, and we will not invent them. The mistakes below are the things the rules rule out, and they are the likeliest reasons for lyrics to be changed, rejected or shown badly.

A worked example, with an invented lyric

The four lines below are invented for this guide and belong to no song. The first block is a rough draft of the kind many writers keep. The two after it show the same words prepared for each service.

Draft (as typed in a notes app)
[Verse]
streetlights hum along the quay,
i keep your name inside my coat.
[Chorus] x2
Hold the line, hold the line.
(oh-oh)

For Musixmatch (Spotify rules)
#VERSE
Streetlights hum along the quay
I keep your name inside my coat
#CHORUS
Hold the line, hold the line
(oh-oh)
Hold the line, hold the line
(oh-oh)

For Apple Music for Artists (Apple guidelines)
Streetlights hum along the quay
I keep your name inside my coat

Hold the line, hold the line (Oh-oh)
Hold the line, hold the line (Oh-oh)

What changed, and why: the shorthand “x2” became two written chorus lines for both services, because both say to write repeats out. The section tags stay for Musixmatch, which asks for them, and go for Apple, whose page says nothing about labels and shows sections by blank lines instead. The lowercase line starts are fixed for both. For Apple, the trailing commas go, and the background vocal moves into parentheses at the end of the line with a capital letter. Spotify’s page does not say how to mark a background vocal, so the Musixmatch version leaves it as it was. Whether “oh-oh” belongs in the lyrics at all is a judgement: Apple asks for non-word vocals to be transcribed sparingly, and only when they add narrative or stylistic content.

Mistakes that cause trouble

Mistake	The rule it breaks	Fix
“x2”, “repeat chorus” or “(Repeat x3)”	Both services say to write every repetition	Paste the full text out
Spoken intro or studio chat in the lyrics	Spotify: only the sung words. Apple: spoken word is not transcribed	Delete it
Credits, a website or a call to “stream now” in the text	WBBT’s FAQ: no promotional text. Apple’s page does not address it	Keep the lyrics only
Section tags pasted into Apple	Apple does not ask for them	Use blank lines
Line-ending full stops and commas on Apple	Apple: no full stops or commas at line ends	Remove them
A “clean” version with no explicit version of the track	Apple: clean only if an explicit version exists	Match the version to the track
Lyrics on an instrumental	The Release Wizard rule: an instrumental carries none	Mark it Instrumental
Transliterating a song in another script	Spotify: use the native script	Type it in the song’s own script
Timestamps a second late	Spotify: sync each line to the first sung word	Play it back and re-time it
Claiming the wrong artist profile	Verification depends on your profile link	Check the link and your email address

How long it takes

None of these steps is instant, and none is fully published for every service. Here is what the pages say.

Step	What the source says
Musixmatch verification	An email within a few business days, confirming or asking for more information (Spotify’s page)
A missing release appearing in Musixmatch	Up to 48 hours (Spotify’s page)
A lyrics or sync change showing on Spotify	A few days (Spotify’s page)
Apple Music	No timing stated on the pages we opened
Other services	Not stated. Check each

Add those together and a realistic plan is to start in the week the release goes live, not on release day, and to expect a gap of days rather than hours. The release timeline puts lyrics in the first week after release.

A checklist

1. Write one clean copy of the lyrics. Final wording, no shorthand, no credits.
2. Settle the rights. Your own words, or written permission.
3. Have the right profile links. Your Spotify artist URL and your Apple Music for Artists access. Ask support for help if a release sits on the wrong profile.
4. Create a Musixmatch Pro account with an email tied to your artist, label or management.
5. Add the artist in Roster and wait for the email.
6. Make the Musixmatch version with section tags, full repeats and the native script.
7. Add and sync it, then play it back with the screen in view.
8. Make the Apple version with Apple’s capitalisation, punctuation and background vocal rules.
9. Submit it in Apple Music for Artists, and use Request a Change for corrections.
10. Record what you sent and when, and look at the song on each service after a few days.
11. Ask support what the release form does with lyrics, so you know whether it is a delivery or just a record.

If lyrics are wrong or missing

• Wrong words or timing on Spotify: correct them in Musixmatch Pro and send. Allow a few days.
• Wrong words on Apple Music: use Request a Change in Artist Content, with the corrected text.
• No lyrics on a song, but the lyrics are in your release form: do not assume the form delivered them. Ask support, and also check the services above.
• The release is on the wrong artist profile: this blocks verification as well as everything else. Send support the incorrect store link, the correct artist link, the UPC and the ISRCs.
• A change needs a new release version: if a lyric change alters the recording, for example a clean edit, ask support first, because identifiers matter. See ISRC and UPC codes explained.

What this guide does not cover

We did not open Musixmatch’s own help pages, so we describe Musixmatch only as Spotify’s page describes it. We did not find an artist-facing route for LyricFind, another lyrics company, and no source we read ties it to Spotify or Apple Music, so we give no steps for it. If a service you care about names a different provider, follow that provider’s instructions. YouTube, Amazon and other services were outside what we could verify, and the rules for each can change.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use Musixmatch, or does my distributor handle lyrics?

Spotify’s help page for artists describes Musixmatch as the way to add, edit and sync lyrics on Spotify, whichever distributor you use. WBBT’s FAQ says to prepare accurate lyrics and use the supported delivery workflow, and that availability and synchronized lyrics support vary by destination. It does not say that lyrics entered at release reach a particular service, so ask support what happens on your plan before you rely on it.

Does it cost anything?

Spotify’s page says the free Musixmatch Pro plan is enough to add, edit and sync lyrics. Plans, prices and offers change, and some services advertise paid options or faster verification, so read what you are agreeing to. Apple Music for Artists is where you submit to Apple, and the pages we read do not list a price for lyrics.

Can I add lyrics before the song is released?

Plan on doing it once the release is live. Spotify’s page describes songs that appear in your Musixmatch catalogue, and a missing release can take up to 48 hours to show. Apple’s pages do not say whether only released songs can have lyrics added. Follow the release timeline and treat lyrics as a task for the first week after release.

Why does a song have no lyrics button, or no lyrics, on Spotify?

Spotify’s listener page says lyrics may not be available on all songs and devices, and that availability varies by market and over time depending on agreements with rights holders. A song with no lyrics may simply not have been added yet. If you are the artist, check your Musixmatch Pro account first.

Can I submit lyrics for a song I only covered?

Be careful. The words of a song belong to its writers and publishers, and a cover recording does not give you the right to submit those lyrics as your own. See the guide to licensing cover songs, and ask the rights holder, a lawyer or the relevant rights society if you are unsure.

Next steps and sources

Sources opened for this article, all accessed on 26 October 2026:

• Managing your lyrics on Spotify, Spotify Support for Artists.
• Lyrics, Spotify Support for listeners.
• How to add your lyrics to Apple Music, Apple Music for Artists.
• Review guidelines for submitting lyrics, Apple Music for Artists.
• FAQs, Apple Music for Artists.
• Musixmatch for Artists: How to Publish and Sync Your Lyrics, Syntax Creative (1 July 2024), a secondary source used only for the list of Musixmatch’s partner services.

Services change their rules, so check the pages before you rely on a detail. To go further, read the guide to release metadata and artwork requirements, then how a release goes from files to live. The Spotify for Artists page covers profile claims and mapping, the pricing page compares plans, and you can submit your music when the files are ready.