Datasets:

audioshake
/

jam-alt

	# Lyrics annotation guidelines

	- Based on [Apple Music](https://artists.apple.com/support/1111-lyrics-guidelines), [LyricFind](https://docs.lyricfind.com/LyricFind_LyricFormattingGuidelines.pdf), [Musixmatch](https://community.musixmatch.com/guidelines) guidelines
	- General rule: transcribe vocal sounds that can be clearly heard

	## General formatting

	- Line breaks separate lyrical segments
	- `\n`: Lines
	- `\n\n`: Stanzas (sections)
	- No more than 1 blank line
	- Ideally at most 10 lines or so in each section (not a hard limit)
	- Section break indicators:
	- A defined chorus, verse, intro, bridge, or hook
	- Changes in the song tempo
	- Changes in how the artist delivers the lyrics (e.g. from singing to rapping)
	- No section labels (verse, chorus, refrain, …) or other non-lyrics text
	- Repeated lines should be repeated explicitly and for the correct number of times

	## Capitalization

	- Capital letter at the beginning of every line
	- Follow traditional grammar rules: capitalize proper nouns and anything else specific to each language
	- Examples of expressions that must be capitalized:
	- Acronyms (NASA, FBI)
	- Brand names
	- Divinity and religious intricacies (God, You, Him, Your in religious songs)
	- Geographical location (East Coast, Southside etc.)

	## Grammar and spelling

	- Within each line, adhere to grammar and spelling rules (commas, capitalization, …) of the language
	- Avoid exaggerations: ~~ohhhh~~ oh, ~~feeeeeel~~ feel, ~~bang!!!!~~ bang!
	- Non-normative (e.g. slang or regional) spelling only if matched by clearly non-standard pronunciation: livin', 'em, 'Rari, 'cause, I'ma, for shizzle, but: ~~becuz~~ because
	- Only use (de facto) standard (commonly used) spellings; do not make up new ones
	- Apostrophe for contractions (two words contracted to one) or elisions (part of a word omitted, usually beginning/end)
	- Avoid elision in the middle of a word except in common/standard cases; see language-specific rules
	- If unsure whether a contraction/elision is actually present, count the syllables with and without it and see which fits better rhythmically
	- If the artist uses a dialect, use standard spelling for that dialect if available and where pronunciation calls for it (see language-specific rules)
	- If not sure, use a dictionary, [Google Ngrams Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/) or even just Google search (comparing the number of results) to get an idea of which spelling is more acceptable
	- Explicit lyrics:
	- If not censored in the audio, transcribe as is: I'm the motherfucking man
	- If completely or partially censored, replace the entire word with 4 asterisks: I'm the \\\\* man*

	## Punctuation

	- Full stop (.): never to end a sentence, only in acronyms, contractions (Mr.)
	- Comma (,): never at the end of a line
	- Apostrophe/single quote ('): only for contraction and elision (I'm, livin' – see above), never to quote
	- Question mark (?), double quote ("): as appropriate
	- Exclamation mark (!): sparingly
	- Hyphens (-) when appropriate
	- To join words, parts of words, non-word vocal sounds
	- When a line is (unnaturally) interrupted in the middle of a word
	- No dashes (–), colons (:) or semicolons (;) – use a comma (or a line break) instead
	- Parentheses: only for background vocals
	- Use variants appropriate for each language (¿?, ¡!, «»)
	- Punctuation should always have a syntactic function – do not use it just to indicate a pause if it doesn't make sense grammatically

	## Background vocals

	- In parentheses at the end of the line it “belongs to”
	- Can be a separate line (starting with capital letter) if there is a longer pause or it would not fit on the same line; can occasionally go at the beginning or in the middle if it is unavoidable
	- Consider omitting them if they form a consistent “texture” (especially if made up of non-word sounds) or are not “countable” (due to extensive delay/reverb etc.)
	- Voices singing in unison/homophony with (near-)identical lyrics are considered as a single unit and not as separate vocal lines, should be transcribed only once
	- Do not use parentheses to simply identify a “secondary” vocalist, but rather for contrast within a single line/section; consider that a singer's role may change (even many times) over the course of the song
	- If there are two or more vocalists, but they have equal importance (equal volume, equal amount of content) such as in a duet, avoid using parentheses systematically

	## Non-word vocal sounds

	- Mostly should be transcribed, but consider if they contribute to the content of the song (if they are part of background vocals, see above)
	- Language-specific!
	- English: oh, ah, la, leh, mmm, ooh, doo, da, uh, whoa, wee, yo, ayy, hey, ayo, brr, ha, …
	- Spanish: oh, ah, la, ay, ey, oy, jaja, ajá, …
	- French: oh, ah, la, ouh, ouah, aïe, hey, ahah, …
	- Always separate individual syllables with punctuation
	- Hyphens to string them together to form short phrases: oh-oh, woah-oh-oh, la-la-la, play-ay-ay
	- Commas to separate: Oh California, ooh-ooh, ooh yeah
	- Do not write ~~la la la~~ or ~~lalala~~, use punctuation; however common speech phrases like oh/ooh yeah should be written with a space
	- Do not include sound descriptions (car horn, clap, music, background speech) or non-vocal sound imitations (screech, whoosh, bang) or symbols (🎵)

	## Unintelligible vocals

	If something is really unintelligible and can't be understood even with a bit of research, it's better to omit it.

	## Language-specific guidelines

	### 🇩🇪 German

	We use neue deutsche Rechtschreibung.

	#### Apostrophes (elisions, contractions)

	We follow the rules from [Duden](https://www.duden.de/sprachwissen/rechtschreibregeln/apostroph), but made a few additional rules to improve consistency:

	1. Elision of _e_ at the end of a word: we generally use apostrophes except in the case of imperatives. Example: _Komm her!_ but _Ich komm' her_. See rule [D13/2](https://www.duden.de/sprachwissen/rechtschreibregeln/apostroph#D13).
	2. Elision of _e_ in the middle of a word: we apply the rules in many cases except for when it is harder to read: _seh'n_ but _verstehn_. See rule [D13/1](https://www.duden.de/sprachwissen/rechtschreibregeln/apostroph#D13).

	### 🇫🇷 French

	Sources: [Musixmatch French insights](https://support.musixmatch.com/article/375-french-inisights), [Musixmatch French FAQ](https://support.musixmatch.com/article/300-curators-faq-french)

	#### Apostrophes (elisions, contractions)
	- If the beginning or end of a word is cut, replace it with an apostrophe:
	- 'teilles (if pronounced as such) for bouteilles
	- j'fais, j't'avais, m'semble, s'capte for je fais, je t'avais, me semble, se capte
	- not for e in the middle of a word: petit, faisait, maintenant, dessus, not ~~p'tit~~/~~ptit~~, ~~f'sait~~, ~~maint'nant~~, ~~d'ssus~~
	- y a, y en, not ~~y'a~~, ~~y'en~~

	#### 1990 spelling reform
	Prefer pre-1990 spellings, e.g. coût ~~cout~~, connaître ~~connaitre~~, événement ~~évènement~~.


	### 🇪🇸 Spanish

	#### Apostrophes (elisions, contractions), dialects
	- Mark elisions at word beginnings/ends as per general rules (e.g. pa', sacamo'); in the middle of a word in common cases (e.g. to's).
	- Avoid writing fusion of syllables as a contraction, e.g. que está ~~qu'está~~.
	- If the song is in a dialect, use that dialect's standard spelling where the pronunciation clearly calls for it, e.g. preparao ~~prepara'o~~