Karaoke video makers
Get properly timed on-screen lyrics to pair with your instrumental track.
KARAOKE & SING-ALONG
Build karaoke-ready lyrics from any song
Upload a track — a full mix or just the isolated vocal stem — and get line-by-line timed lyrics back, ready to export as LRC or SRT for your karaoke or video software.
Create a free account to test LyricTime on one of your own songs. Export unlocks with paid minutes.
Line-by-line timing built for sing-along display, not just rough captioning
Karaoke-style sync for LRC, SRT, and sing-along lyrics
Works great from a vocal stem if you have one — cleaner audio, often cleaner timing
Export LRC, the standard format most lyric/karaoke display software expects
Full editor to fine-tune timing before you finalize a file
Worth knowing
The best input for karaoke timing: a vocal stem, if you have one
LyricTime's job is timing — turning a track into accurately timed lyrics, whatever audio you give it. For karaoke specifically, that gives you a useful option: if you've already split your song into stems (vocals, instrumental, and so on), upload just the vocal stem rather than the full mix. With nothing but the voice in the audio, there's no instrumental bleeding into the signal LyricTime is listening to, which often means cleaner, more reliable timing — especially on busy or layered arrangements where a full mix can make it harder to pin down exactly where a line starts and ends.
You don't need a vocal stem to use LyricTime — a full mix with vocals works fine too, and is exactly what most people upload. But if you're already working with stems for any reason — say, you pulled them from Suno's "Get Stems" feature, or split a song with a separation tool for some other part of your project — feeding the vocal stem in for timing is a good way to put that file to use.
For the rest of the karaoke setup, the instrumental (vocals removed) is what you'd play back for someone to actually sing along to. If you've already got that from the same stem split, you're set. If not, that's a separate step from timing — most stem-separation tools, including Suno's, give you both the vocal and the instrumental from the same split, so if you've got one you likely have the other already.
One more honest note if you're covering a popular, commercially released song: removing the vocals doesn't change who owns the song, so the usual copyright considerations for using someone else's music still apply if you're distributing or publishing the result, even instrumental-only.
If your song came from Suno, getting both pieces from the same source is straightforward — see the FAQ below for the exact steps using Suno's built-in "Get Stems" feature.
Best for
Who this is built for
Cover artists and bands
Create a karaoke version of your own original song — no vocal removal needed since you control the recording.
Worship and community singing
Time lyrics for group sing-along display.
Karaoke software users
Get an LRC file ready to import into LRC-compatible players and apps.
The process
How it works
01
Upload your track.
A full mix works fine. If you've already got a vocal stem from a stem split — Suno's "Get Stems," or any separation tool — that works too, and often gives slightly cleaner timing since there's no instrumental in the way.
02
Choose your option.
Already have the lyrics? Choose "Upload MP3 + paste lyrics" for tighter, more reliable timing. No lyrics yet? Choose "Upload MP3 only" and let LyricTime generate them.
03
Fine-tune timing.
This matters more for karaoke than almost any other use case, since viewers are reading along in real time. Use Timeline mode to check timing visually against the waveform, and Blocks mode for precise 0.1-second nudges on individual lines.
04
Export as LRC
(or SRT if your karaoke or video software prefers subtitle format instead).
05
Pair it with your instrumental.
This is separate from the timing step above — it's the vocal-free backing track someone will actually sing along to. If you split stems to get the vocal stem you uploaded in step 1, you've likely already got the instrumental from that same split.
Export formats
Three formats, every use case
Export the file your next workflow expects. If you are not sure yet, you can export more than one from the same synced project.
LRC
Lyrics and karaoke
is the standard lyric-timing format most karaoke and lyric-display software and apps support. Each line gets a single timestamp marking when it should appear; LyricTime's LRC export is standard line-by-line timing, not the word-level "Enhanced LRC" variant some dedicated karaoke apps use for letter-by-letter highlighting.
SRT
Video and subtitles
is useful if you're building the sing-along into a video rather than a dedicated karaoke player. Unlike LRC, SRT also marks an end time for each line, which some video-based karaoke setups prefer.
VTT
Web playback
is available too, for web-based playback.
What to expect
Go in expecting something close to finished
Expected result
The main thing to know
A quick honest note on compatibility: LyricTime exports standard LRC, SRT, and VTT — it doesn't generate CDG files, the format used on physical karaoke discs and some dedicated hardware players, and it doesn't produce word-level "Enhanced LRC" highlighting where individual syllables light up as they're sung. What you get is accurate line-by-line timing, which is what most karaoke and sing-along software actually displays. If your setup is software- or video-based — karaoke apps, lyric display software, sing-along videos — standard LRC or SRT exports work well. If you're targeting a CDG-based karaoke machine specifically, check that your machine or software can import from LRC or SRT first, since CDG is a different kind of file entirely and not all karaoke hardware reads it.
Expected result
A quick review still matters
On timing accuracy: karaoke tends to need a bit more manual polish than casual lyric video timing, simply because viewers are tracking every line in real time. With "Upload MP3 + paste lyrics," timing usually comes out close to spot-on since the words are already correct. With "Upload MP3 only," timing is also strong, and the odd misheard word is the more likely thing to catch — Blocks mode's Find & Replace handles repeats in one go. Either way, budget a few extra minutes in the editor specifically for this use case.
Tips
Common mistakes and what to do instead
Remember that timed lyrics and a vocal-free instrumental are two separate pieces of a karaoke setup — LyricTime handles the timing on whatever audio you give it; the instrumental for actual singing comes from a stem split, done separately.
Karaoke is the use case most sensitive to timing precision — don't skip the review step even if the first pass looks close.
If you're building this for a CDG-based machine or a dedicated karaoke box, confirm it can import LRC or SRT before relying on this as your only step — CDG hardware often can't.
If you need word-by-word highlighting, where each syllable lights up as it's sung, that's a step beyond what LyricTime's LRC export currently provides — it gives you accurate line-level timing, which most karaoke and lyric apps use anyway.
For group or worship sing-alongs, slightly longer on-screen line durations — a touch ahead of the vocal — often read more comfortably than frame-perfect timing. Blocks mode's nudge controls make this kind of small timing adjustment easy.
Practical details
Before you upload
How long does processing take?
Most songs are done in well under a minute — often around 25 seconds in practice. To be safe, plan for up to 30-60 seconds depending on the song.
Is there a file size limit?
Yes — uploads are capped at 15MB per file. A typical full-length MP3 at standard quality comes in well under that.
What languages does this support?
Eight languages are officially supported: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean. Outside of those, results aren't guaranteed, though other languages have worked for some users in practice.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, new accounts get a short free trial to test on their own song before purchasing a minute pack.
FAQ
Got a question?
Does LyricTime remove vocals to create an instrumental?+
No — LyricTime's job is timing lyrics to whatever audio you upload, whether that's a full mix or an isolated vocal stem. The vocal-free instrumental for actual singing is a separate piece, produced by a stem split rather than by LyricTime.
Should I upload the full song or just the vocal stem?+
Either works. A full mix is the simpler default and works well. If you happen to have a vocal stem already — from a stem split you did for another reason — uploading that instead can give slightly cleaner timing, since there's no instrumental in the audio to interfere with the words.
My song came from Suno — how do I get the instrumental and vocal stem?+
Suno has a built-in stem-separation feature called "Get Stems." Open the song in your Library, click More Actions (•••), choose Get Stems, then Extract Stems for a vocals + instrumental split (or the 12-track option for individual instruments). The instrumental becomes your karaoke backing track; the vocal stem is a good option to upload to LyricTime for timing, per the note above. It's not perfect isolation — songs with a cleaner, more vocal-forward mix tend to separate better than dense, layered ones — but it's a solid starting point and you don't need a separate tool.
Does this export CDG files for karaoke machines?+
No — LyricTime exports standard LRC, SRT, and VTT. CDG is a different format built for physical karaoke discs and dedicated hardware; if you need it specifically, check whether your machine or software can import from LRC or SRT instead.
Does the LRC export support word-by-word karaoke highlighting?+
Not currently — LyricTime's LRC export is standard, line-by-line timed lyrics rather than the word-level "Enhanced LRC" format some dedicated karaoke apps use for syllable highlighting. Line-level timing is what most karaoke and lyric-display software actually uses.
What's the best format for karaoke software?+
Use LRC for karaoke-style lyric display, sing-along lyrics, and music players. Use SRT if you are making a video in an editor like CapCut, Premiere, DaVinci, or Final Cut.
Can I use this for a song I didn't write?+
Yes, technically the tool works on any audio — just be mindful of copyright and licensing for lyrics and music you don't own if you're distributing the result, and note that vocal removal alone doesn't change who owns the song.
How precise is the timing?+
Good, but plan to review and adjust — especially for karaoke, where viewers read every line in real time.
Can I build a full karaoke video with this?+
LyricTime gives you the timed lyric file. You'd pair that with a vocal-free instrumental and your video or karaoke software to build the final video.
Ready to turn your next track into a sing-along?
Try the demo first to see the output quality for yourself. To process your own song, choose a minute pack.
Create a free account to test one song • Export unlocks with paid minutes
