# 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~~*