LRC vs SRT: Which Format Do You Need?
Both are plain-text files with timestamps, but they're built for different jobs. Here's how to tell which one you actually need.
What each format is
LRC times song lyrics. Each line gets a single start time, and a music player highlights the line that's currently being sung. It's read by audio players, karaoke apps, and anything that displays synced lyrics.
SRT times subtitles. Each block gets both a start and an end time, and a video player shows the text for exactly that window. It's the subtitle format of choice for video players and editors.
Side by side
| LRC | SRT | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Synced song lyrics | Video subtitles |
| Timing | Line start only | Start + end |
| Syntax | [00:08.00] | 00:00:08,000 |
| Metadata | [ar:], [ti:], [offset:] | None |
| Word-level | Enhanced LRC only | Built in |
| Consumed by | Music players, karaoke | Video players, editors |
When to use which
- Karaoke - you want LRC. Karaoke apps highlight the line as it's sung, which is exactly what LRC does.
- Synced lyrics in a music player - LRC. Musicolet, Poweramp, MusicBee, and foobar2000 (with a lyrics component) read it. VLC does not read LRC natively; see the VLC workarounds.
- Subtitles on a video - SRT. Video players expect start and end times.
- Captions for a lyric video - SRT, so the text appears and disappears with each line.
Converting between them
Going from LRC to SRT is easy: each line's start time becomes the subtitle's start, and the next line's start (or the song's end) becomes the end time. Going from SRT back to LRC is the same idea in reverse: use each block's start time and drop the end time. Lyricron can export either, so you don't need a separate converter for the common case.
If you want the full breakdown of the LRC side, start with what an LRC file is, and for a walkthrough of making one, see how to sync lyrics to a song.
Export LRC or SRT
Time once, then copy or download as .lrc or .srt, whichever you need.