Lyrics Are Handled by the Platform, Not Just the Distributor
When you add lyrics to your tracks during upload (see Add Lyrics to My Tracks), we deliver them with your release. However, whether and how those lyrics appear on Spotify, Apple Music, or another service is controlled by the platform and, in many cases, by their lyrics partner (such as Musixmatch). That is why lyrics can be slightly delayed or handled differently from the audio itself.
Most Common Reasons Lyrics Are Not Showing
- They are still rolling out. Lyrics often appear days or a few weeks after the track goes live, not at the same moment. The audio comes first; lyrics follow.
- The platform uses its own lyrics provider. Some services source synced lyrics from a third party like Musixmatch rather than from the file we deliver. Those need to be matched and time-synced on their side.
- Lyrics were not included at upload. If the lyrics field was left blank when the release was submitted, nothing was delivered. Check your release, add them, and resubmit an update. See How to Update a Release After Distribution.
- Formatting problems. Lyrics pasted with odd characters, timestamps, or all on one line can fail to display cleanly. Use plain text, one line per lyric line.
- Not every platform supports lyrics. Many smaller and regional stores do not display lyrics at all, even when delivered.
- Instrumental or explicit handling. Instrumentals will show no lyrics by design, and some platforms hide lyrics on tracks flagged incorrectly.
What You Can Do
- Give it time. If your release is less than a few weeks old, lyrics may simply not have rolled out yet.
- Confirm lyrics were submitted. Open the release in your dashboard and check the lyrics field on the affected track. If it is empty, add the lyrics and push an update.
- Clean up the formatting. Remove timestamps and special symbols; keep one lyric line per line.
- Consider Musixmatch directly. For platforms that use Musixmatch, you or the songwriter can also submit and sync lyrics through a free Musixmatch account, which can speed up display on those services.
- Still stuck? If it has been several weeks, lyrics were correctly submitted, and they still do not appear, open a support ticket with the track link and we will investigate.
Good to Know
Lyrics display is a "best effort" feature across the industry. We deliver what you provide, but no distributor can guarantee that a specific platform will show synced lyrics on a specific track, because the final decision sits with the platform and its lyrics partner.