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Everyday listening

Lyrics that keep time

Lyrics come from your own files first, from tags or a .lrc next to the song, and from LRCLIB only when nothing local exists. When they're timed, the current line lights up and the panel follows along.

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MacAMP with the Lyrics tab open in the right panel, showing synced lyric lines with the current line highlighted.

Where lyrics come from

MacAMP checks three places, in this order, and stops at the first hit:

Source Details
Embedded tags Lyrics stored inside the file itself (ID3, Vorbis comments and friends).
A .lrc file Same name as the song, same folder. Track 01.flac pairs with Track 01.lrc.
LRCLIB An open online lyrics database, matched by title, artist and duration.

Local sources always win. Turn off Online lyrics in Settings › Online and MacAMP never asks the internet at all.

Synced, line by line

When lyrics carry timestamps, the active line is highlighted in the accent colour and the panel scrolls to keep it centred. The other lines dim back so your eye knows where to land. Reduce Motion is respected.

The lyrics library

Lyrics in the sidebar lists every song whose words MacAMP already knows, so you can browse and read them without starting playback. It fills itself three ways: a quiet offline sweep of your tags and .lrc files on launch, background enrichment, and simply opening a song.

Make your own

A .lrc file is plain text with a timestamp per line:

[00:12.34] First line of the song
[00:15.78] Second line
[00:19.00] Third line

Save it next to the song and MacAMP picks it up on the next play.