Apple Employees Help Transcribe Music for iOS 13's New Real-Time Lyrics Feature - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Employees Help Transcribe Music for iOS 13's New Real-Time Lyrics Feature

by

applemusicios13lyricsIn an interview with WIRED, Apple Music head Oliver Schusser has revealed that Apple has a team of employees listening to songs and transcribing the lyrics to ensure they are accurate for iOS 13's new real-time lyrics feature:

In probably the most bizarre example of Apple spending to get the experience right, Schusser says that Apple has "a team of people listening to music and transcribing the lyrics" to ensure they're accurate enough for Apple Music's new time synced lyrics feature; "we don't get them from the usual sites."

With iOS 13's real-time lyrics feature, each verse appears in time with the music so you can follow along as you listen. To jump to a certain verse, just scroll and tap any line. The feature is not available for all songs.

The interview contains a few other notable tidbits from Beats 1 radio host Zane Lowe, including the possibility of the Apple Music Festival returning in the future and "some big new names" who will accompany Ebro Darden, Julie Adenuga, Matt Wilkinson, and himself as Beats 1 hosts in the future.

Full Interview: More radio, more live: where Apple Music's headed in 2020

Top Rated Comments

88 months ago
Apple originally wanted the Siri voice-to-text recognition algorithms to transcribe the songs but abandoned that approach when it was discovered that most of the songs were about restaurants that were close to you.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
e1me5 Avatar
88 months ago
Why they don't just get the lyrics from the writers?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mashdots Avatar
88 months ago
I think that would be a job a whole lot of people would love to have.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
88 months ago
That explains why some are comically wrong
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnyslats Avatar
88 months ago
"accurate enough" and "we don't get them from the usual sites" explains why I constantly see lots of errors. Really needs an in-built "report" button
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MDF314159265 Avatar
88 months ago
“Hold me closer, Tony Danza....”
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple music

Apple Music Reveals Top 20 Most-Streamed Artists of All Time

Thursday June 18, 2026 3:26 pm PDT by
Apple today teamed up with Chart Data to share the top 20 most-streamed artists of all time. Chart Data says this is the first time that Apple has shared the all-time streaming list. Drake is the number one most-streamed artist, with Taylor Swift coming in second. Future was third, followed by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Bad Bunny. The full list is below. Top 20 most streamed artists ...
Waze logo

5 New Waze Features Rolling Out Now: Here Are All the Details

Monday July 13, 2026 3:42 am PDT by
Google today announced that Waze is getting a handful of new features, including some Gemini-powered personalization enhancements for Conversational Reporting. Conversational Reporting already uses Gemini when users report traffic incidents like slowdowns, but now you can use it to suggest map updates like road closures or outdated addresses. Saying something like "The road is closed here"...
Apple 2026 Back to School Graphic

Apple's 2026 Back to School Offer Just Went Live in Select Countries

Wednesday July 15, 2026 11:48 am PDT by
Apple's annual Back to School promotion is now live in select countries in Asia, including China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The offer provides college students and educational staff with a free item with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad model. The exact offer varies by country, with options including a pack of four AirTags, AirPods 4,...