When you're jamming out to a new song, you often want to learn the lyrics so that you can sing out loud too. Typically, you'd look up the lyrics with a Google search, but there's no need to do that if you're an Apple Music user.
Apple Music can fetch you the lyrics for almost any song that you listen to on the platform. They're available as full lyrics or live lyrics.
Before we teach you how to view song lyrics on Apple Music, let's look at the difference between these two types of lyrics.
Live Lyrics vs. Full Lyrics: What's the Difference?
Live Lyrics is Apple's fancy word for time-synced lyrics. This type of lyrics makes it easy to follow along with the song you're listening to.
You can access Apple Music's Live Lyrics feature directly from the playback screen. Apart from viewing real-time lyrics, you can also select a verse to skip music playback to that portion of the song, which feels a lot more natural than scrubbing.
In comparison, Full Lyrics is the traditional lyrics sheet where you can see all the verses on a single page. It looks similar to what Google would fetch if you look up the lyrics for a song.
These two types of lyrics cater to different use cases. For instance, if you want to sing along with a song, Live Lyrics would be ideal, but Full Lyrics may be the better option if you're looking to learn the lyrics for later.
While Apple Music offers both these types of lyrics to its users, it's important to know that they're not available everywhere. You may only have access to full lyrics for some songs; for some others, you won't find any lyrics at all. This is a common problem with regional songs.
How to Use Full Lyrics on Apple Music
Let's start with the good old way of viewing song lyrics: Full Lyrics.
Apple Music is available on various platforms, including Android devices and the Apple TV. Therefore, we'll cover the steps you need to follow for desktop, mobile, and Apple TV separately.
How to See Full Lyrics on Desktop
While Macs have Apple Music built-in, Windows users need to rely on iTunes to stream Apple Music.
Unfortunately, the Apple Music app for macOS cannot fetch the full lyrics of a song unless Live Lyrics are available. So, this method will remain exclusive to Windows devices.
Follow these simple instructions:
- Launch iTunes on your computer and start playing any song.
- Now, click on three lines icon next to the search field to bring up a context menu.
- Here, select the Lyrics section to view the full lyrics on a single page.
It's really that simple. If the lyrics are too long, you'll have to scroll down to read the remaining verses. You'll find this same option when you use the iTunes Mini Player on your PC too.
How to See Full Lyrics on Mobile
Apple's iPhone and iPad have Apple Music built-in, just like the Macs. However, if you're an Android user, you'd typically use the Apple Music app from the Play Store.
Since the interface remains the same on both platforms, you can follow these steps whether you're an iOS or Android user:
- Open the Apple Music app and play the song of your choice. Then, bring up the playback menu.
- Here, tap on the three dots icon next to the song name to access more options.
- Now, choose View Full Lyrics from the context menu to view all the lyrics on a single page.
Hopefully, you were able to get the lyrics for the song you're listening to. If you don't see the Full Lyrics option in the context menu, it's because lyrics aren't available.
How to See Full Lyrics on Apple TV
Some of you may love to jam along to music in the living room with the help of your Apple TV. You can use the built-in Apple Music app to show the full lyrics on the big screen. Here's what you need to do:
- Launch the Apple Music app and start playing some music.
- Once you're in the playback menu, press the Menu button on your Apple TV Remote.
- You'll now see a three dots icon at the bottom of your screen. Select it to access more options.
- Choose View Full Lyrics, and you'll see the verses fill up your screen.
Now, everyone in the living room can read those lyrics and sing along to the music.
How to Use Live Lyrics on Apple Music
If the fancy time-synced version of the lyrics is what you're looking for, you've made it to the interesting part. Whether you use Apple Music on a mobile device, desktop, or Apple TV, we have you covered.
How to See Live Lyrics on Desktop
Unfortunately, Live Lyrics isn't available on iTunes. So, Windows users will be missing out on this feature. However, if you own a Mac, you can follow these steps:
- Open the Apple Music app on your Mac and play a song that you like.
- You'll see the Lyrics button in the upper-right corner of the window. Click on it.
If you get the full lyrics instead of Live Lyrics, it's because Live Lyrics aren't available for that particular song. And if the full lyrics aren't available either, the Lyrics button will be grayed out.
How to See Live Lyrics on Mobile
Whether you listen to Apple Music on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, you can utilize these steps to get the Live Lyrics for any supported song.
- Launch the Apple Music app, and play a song.
- Enter the playback menu.
- Now, tap on the Lyrics icon in the lower-left corner of your screen.
You can tap on the Lyrics button again if you want to exit the Live Lyrics screen. This button will be grayed if Live Lyrics aren't available.
How to See Live Lyrics on Apple TV
If you have your Apple TV hooked up to a large television, you'll love to use Apple Music's Live Lyrics feature regularly. Follow these steps to set it up:
- Open the Apple Music app and play a song from the catalog.
- If you don't see Live Lyrics automatically, press the Menu button on your Apple TV Remote and select the Lyrics icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.
When you're done viewing the lyrics, you can select the Lyrics option again to turn time-synced lyrics off indefinitely.
Lyrics Wrong or Unavailable? Here's What You Can Do
If lyrics aren't available for a song you like or if the lyrics aren't incorrect, you can report it to Apple using the Apple Music feedback form. It'll take a few minutes to fill out that form. Other than that, all you can do is search for the lyrics on Google or use another site.
Apple Music Makes It Easy to Get Song Lyrics
Gone are the days when you had to open a browser and look up the lyrics on Google. Apple Music app makes it easy to view lyrics, regardless of the platform.
Lyrics are one of the many great features that Apple Music offers. It's one of the best music streaming services out there.