How to Make a Lyric Video That Looks Professional

A lyric video is often the first video an independent artist puts out, because you can make one without a film crew. It gives listeners something to watch while the song plays and lets the words carry it. Done properly, it feels like part of the release instead of a stopgap, and it’s one of the quickest wins in videography for musicians.

This guide is for UK solo artists and bands, singer-songwriters included. It looks at what makes a lyric video strong or weak, then how to design and time it before you publish.

What makes a good lyric video?

Readable words, accurate timing and one clear visual idea. That’s the lot. Viewers should be able to follow the lyrics without effort, see each line as it’s sung, and feel the look matches the song. Anything beyond that is decoration.

The usual mistakes are easy to spot. Text is too small, or too many effects compete for attention. Lines turn up late. The background is so busy that the words disappear into it. If a viewer has to work to read your video, it’s failing.

What style of lyric video should you make?

Kinetic typography

The words move and scale, changing with the rhythm. This suits energetic songs and gives you the most freedom as a designer, though it takes the longest to animate.

Words over footage

Here the lyrics sit over a performance or a scene, or over loops of scenery and city shots. It’s a good choice if you already have footage and want the video to feel human.

Words over artwork or photography

The lyrics go over your cover art or press photos, or a plain graphic background. This is the fastest style to produce, and it works well if you have a strong visual identity already. Our guide to press photos for musicians explains how to build a set of images you can reuse here.

Handwritten or illustrated

Hand-drawn or scripted lettering gives a tactile look. It’s distinctive, and it suits acoustic or personal songs.

Let the song choose the style. A fragile ballad doesn’t want frantic animation. A dance track has no use for slow fades.

How do you choose typography for a lyric video?

Use one typeface (two at most) and keep them in line with your artwork and website. Most pop and rock suits a bold, clean sans serif, as does electronic music. Folk and singer-songwriter material often suits a serif or a script, provided it stays readable at small sizes.

• Make the text bigger than feels necessary, because lots of people will watch on a phone.
• Keep lines short, just a few words each, and break them where the singer breathes.
• Keep text away from the edges of the screen and off people’s faces.
• Use the same typeface, size and position for the main lyrics, and save any variation for emphasis.
• When you want to stress a key word, change one thing at a time, like colour or scale.

Check that every font you use is licensed for video and commercial release. A free font isn’t always free for commercial use.

How do you time lyrics to the music?

Type out the lyrics exactly as they’re sung. Include any repeats and ad-libs you want to show. Then place each line on the timeline against the vocal waveform so it appears just before or as the word is sung, and disappears as the line finishes.

1. Listen through with the text in front of you, marking where each line starts on the waveform.
2. Bring lines in slightly early, so viewers can read them before the singer gets there.
3. Hold each line on screen long enough to read it aloud once.
4. Use the gaps, since an instrumental break is a chance for a visual moment with no text at all.
5. Watch it on a phone with the sound off and then with it on, and fix anything that feels late.

Check the spelling and punctuation twice. A typo in a lyric video sits on screen where everyone can see it.

How do you make a lyric video accessible?

Start with contrast. The W3C’s accessibility guidance asks for text to have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, or 3:1 for large text, which it defines as at least 18 point or 14 point bold. That guideline was written for web content, but it’s a good benchmark for text over video as well. In practice, that means putting light text on a darker area, or adding a subtle shadow or overlay wherever the background changes.

Keep text off busy detail and patterns, and away from bright spots. Avoid very fast flashing or strobing, because some viewers find it uncomfortable. Don’t rely on colour alone to show emphasis either.

And add proper captions or a transcript. On-screen lyrics are part of the design. They can’t stand in for captions, which help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

How do you upload a lyric video to YouTube?

Give the video a plain title. Normally that’s the artist and song followed by “Lyric Video” or “Official Lyric Video”. In the description, include the lyrics or a link to them and say where people can stream or buy the song. Add your website and social links, and the credits.

For captions, YouTube Help explains that you can upload a subtitle file, type or paste a transcript so timing is set automatically, or add subtitles during upload. It also says automatic captions come from speech recognition, which copes less well with sung lyrics, so check them if you’re relying on them. Pick a thumbnail you can still read when it’s tiny, and put the video in a playlist with your other releases.

Then share it wherever your listeners are. Post it on your website and send it to your mailing list, and cut a short clip from the chorus for social media. For more on getting your releases seen, read about marketing for musicians.

How we can help

If you’d like a lyric video that matches your artwork and release, our video services for musicians include lyric videos as well as music videos, live sessions and short-form clips. We can design the typography and time it to your track, then prepare versions for YouTube and social media. We agree a clear brief, scope and fee with you before any work begins.

Sources

• W3C: Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3, Contrast (Minimum)
• YouTube Help: Add subtitles and captions