Synced Lyrics with DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby: Where Your Lyrics Go and How to Get Them Right

If you release through DistroKid, TuneCore or CD Baby, getting synced lyrics (the kind that scroll line by line as the song plays) works differently at each one. Some time the lines for you, some only pass along plain text, and some leave lyrics to a third-party service entirely.

This guide lines up what each distributor's help center says, as of October 26, 2026, plus how to get synced lyrics on Spotify no matter who distributes your music. Policies change, so double-check the linked help pages before you submit.

The short version

Sources: DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Spotify.

None of these routes gives you word-by-word lyrics, the kind that light up word by word on Apple Music. Those come from a word-level TTML file delivered to Apple. How to get word-by-word lyrics on Apple Music explains how that works.

DistroKid

Where your lyrics go

Plain lyrics are free on every DistroKid plan and go to Apple Music, YouTube Music, LyricFind and Google search results, among others (Where will my lyrics show up?). DistroKid can't deliver lyrics for cover songs.

For synced lyrics, DistroKid's synced-lyrics article says delivery to Apple Music and YouTube is included with Musician Plus and Ultimate, and that Spotify, Tidal, Instagram and Facebook need Lyric Blaster, its add-on powered by Musixmatch. You opt into Lyric Blaster per artist, from the plain-lyrics page of a song.

How to sync

1. Submit plain lyrics first. Synced lyrics can only be added once your plain lyrics are approved. DistroKid says that review usually takes about a day.
2. Open the synced-lyrics page from the song on your release page, or from the lyrics dashboard at distrokid.com/lyrics.
3. Play the song and hold the space bar for as long as each line is sung, releasing it when the line ends. Repeat until the last line.
4. If you miss a line, "Click here to reset" clears all the synced lyrics for the song, and you start again from the top.

DistroKid suggests Google Chrome if playback gives you trouble. After you submit, it takes around one to two weeks for lyrics to go live (Adding lyrics to your music).

TuneCore

TuneCore's help center is short on this: TuneCore only sends lyrics directly to iTunes and Apple Music, and only as plain text. It says it can't sync lyrics. For Spotify and Instagram, it points you to a third-party service like Musixmatch (Uploading lyrics).

If you've read that TuneCore offers line sync, that's TuneCore Japan, a separate service with its own dashboard and its own lyric options.

CD Baby

CD Baby doesn't distribute lyrics itself. Its help center recommends Musixmatch and LyricFind, which pass approved lyrics on to Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram and YouTube. CD Baby artists get 10% off Musixmatch Pro through CD Baby's link (How do I get my lyrics on partner sites?).

Spotify: Musixmatch works whoever your distributor is

Spotify doesn't take lyrics from artists directly. Musixmatch licenses and syncs the lyrics you see on Spotify, and Spotify's own help page walks through the process (Managing your lyrics on Spotify):

1. Create a Musixmatch Pro account. The free tier is all you need to add, edit and sync lyrics on Spotify. An email address on your artist, label or management domain speeds up verification.
2. Verify your artist profile. Under Roster, select Add artist and paste your Spotify artist URL. Musixmatch replies by email within a few business days.
3. Add your lyrics. Pick the song, select Lyrics, enter them and hit Send. If a release is missing, you can add it manually. It may take up to 48 hours to appear.
4. Sync them. Select Sync on the song. Musixmatch shows the lyrics line by line, and you adjust each line's timestamp while you listen. Each line should start when its first word is sung. If several voices are singing, follow the main vocal.

Changes take a few days to reach Spotify. Unlike most distributor tools, you can come back and edit or re-sync later. One exception: Spotify says lyrics for listeners in Japan come from PetitLyrics, not Musixmatch.

When your lyrics don't show up

Work through these in order:

1. It's still processing. DistroKid says one to two weeks. Musixmatch changes take a few days to reach Spotify, and artist verification takes a few business days before that.
2. Your plain lyrics weren't approved. On DistroKid, you can't submit synced lyrics until the plain version passes review. Rejected lyrics usually break one of the formatting rules below.
3. Your route doesn't reach that service. TuneCore and CD Baby don't send lyrics to Spotify at all. DistroKid only sends synced lyrics to Spotify if Lyric Blaster is on for that artist.
4. It's a cover. DistroKid can't deliver lyrics for cover songs.
5. The listener is in Japan. Spotify's lyrics there come from PetitLyrics.
6. The service chose not to show them. Apple, for one, says enabling synced lyrics is at its editorial discretion (Apple lyrics guidelines).

Before you submit

DistroKid's list of common rejection reasons and Spotify's guidelines agree on most of this:

• Write out every repeat. No "Chorus 2x" or "x2".
• Only the words that are sung. No vocalist names, no "intro" or "chorus" labels in DistroKid, no social links. (Musixmatch is the exception: it asks you to tag sections like #VERSE and #CHORUS.)
• Start each line with a capital letter, and don't end lines with punctuation other than ? or !.
• Put blank lines only between sections, never between every line, and no extra spaces at the start or end of a line.
• One sentence per line. Long lines get rejected, and they wrap badly on phones anyway.
• Spell numbers one to ten as words, and use standard spelling ("trying to", not "tryna").
• Don't censor words that are audible in the recording. Use asterisks only where the audio is bleeped or dropped.

Apple's own rules for synced lyrics are summarized in our Apple Music guide.

Getting the timing right: rehearse before you submit

DistroKid has you hold the space bar through each line in one take, and one slip means starting the song over. Musixmatch is more forgiving, but you're still nudging timestamps by ear. Either way, it helps to know where every line starts and ends before you open the distributor's tool.

1. Get the line timings from your master and your lyrics. Upload the audio to LyricSmith and paste your lyrics. The AI only adds timing; it doesn't change a word of your lyrics. It's free, with no sign-up.
2. Listen through and fix anything that's off. The lyric list in the editor shows each line's start and end time (like 1:23.45), so you can fix any line that comes in early or late.
3. Use those times as your guide in the distributor's tool. With DistroKid, you know exactly when to press and release. With Musixmatch, you can check each timestamp against yours.

DistroKid's, TuneCore's and CD Baby's help pages don't describe a way to upload a lyrics file such as LRC, so treat LyricSmith's timings as prep work, not as a file to submit.

The alignment isn't perfect either. Long intros, wordless humming and a chorus repeated many times can throw a line or two off together, so listen all the way through before you rely on the times.

Upload a song and try it →

If you want word-by-word lyrics

Everything above gets you line-by-line lyrics. For lyrics that light up word by word on Apple Music, you need a TTML file with a start and end time for every word, delivered to Apple by a distributor that accepts TTML.

Once your line timings look right in LyricSmith, switch to word mode, check the words, and export word-level TTML from the same timings. How to get word-by-word lyrics on Apple Music covers who can deliver that file and the rules Apple applies.