The Genius Korean community prides itself on having accurate lyrics for new releases first, and its respective Romanization and English translation. This guide provides instructions on how to correctly transcribe and format Korean songs. Note that most of the information provided here can be found on Genius Guides in their corresponding sections.✧ Searching for DuplicatesAlways search for duplicates before transcribing a song, including the romanized and translated lyrics. This will ensure that you are not putting hard work into a transcription only to have it deleted.

If you happen to make or find a duplicate song page, let us know on our Discord server, or through the Genius Korea Help Requests forum post.✧ How to Format Genius Korea Song PagesThis part should be fairly simple. Transcribe songs on Genius Korea just like how you would for any other song. Include all relevant metadata. However, it is important to be aware of certain formats.Artist NameSong TitleSEO HeadersTags✧ Creating Romanization or Translation Song PagesIf the translation or romanization page of the song you want to add doesn't exist yet, you can create it using this page.

Do not create shell pages (empty pages) for the songs you don't intend or don't have the required language skills to translate! It can be seen as IQ Gaming which is against the Community Policy. For upcoming popular releases of highly popular Korean artists (for example BTS, BLACKPINK, etc.), the Romanization and English Translation shell pages can be added and linked to the Korean song page before the release. If you are not sure if a release is "popular enough" to add these pages, contact Genius Korea Moderator or Editor listed here.✧ How to Format Romanization PagesThere is a very specific format to transcribe romanized lyrics. Even though it may seem tedious, the process is straightforward. It is important that you follow these guidelines.Artist Name: Genius RomanizationsSong Title: [Actual Artist Name] - [Actual Song Title] (Romanized)If there are featured artists on the song, the following format should be used.Artist Name: Genius RomanizationsSong Title: [Actual Artist Name] - [Actual Song Title] ft. [Actual Featured Artists] (Romanized)It is important to leave the following sections blank:FeaturingProducersWritersAll additional role fieldsAll song relationship fields (except "translation of")Tags (with the exception of "Romanized" & "Genius Korea" tags)Feel free to include the following information:Song ArtworkSoundCloud/YouTube LinksRelease Date✧ How to Romanize a SongYou do not have to be fluent in Korean to be able to romanize a song. However, you need to remember about following:Make sure the original Korean lyrics are fully completeUtilize a Korean Romanization converterMake sure to correctly format the Romanized lyrics after the use of the converter (don't just copy-paste and leave it without formatting)!Be aware of characters that may not be converted automatically– e.g. Japanese or Chinese lines, Hanja characters, numeral numbers✧ How to Format English Translation PagesThe format to transcribe English translations is similar to that of romanized lyrics. It is important that you follow these guidelines.Artist Name: Genius English TranslationsSong Title: [Actual Artist Name] - [Actual Song Title] (English Translation)If there are featured artists on the song, the following format should be used.Artist Name: Genius English TranslationsSong Title: [Actual Artist Name] - [Actual Song Title] ft. [Actual Featured Artists] (Romanized)It is important to leave the following sections blank:FeaturingProducersWritersAll additional role fieldsAll song relationship fields (except "translation of")Tags (with the exception of "English Translation" & "Genius Korea" tags)Feel free to include the following information:Song ArtworkSoundCloud/YouTube LinksRelease Date✧ How to Translate a SongRefer to Genius Guide on Translations for extended instructions.Translate only if you are fluent in Korean or have a basic command on the languageDo not use Google Translate or other English to Korean translators to translate complete songsUse official translations if released by the artist or their teamBe mindful of differences between English Translation and official English versions of songsBe mindful of difference in sentence structure of Korean vs. English✧ How to Link the 3 Song PagesA song with Korean lyrics and its respective romanized and translated song pages must be connected. This allows users to conveniently access different song pages without having to separately search for each of them.

To do this we currently use Song Relationships, please refer here for how to properly add them.

Note: Album pages still use Q+A to tie the songs together. Find "Ask us a question about this album" on the right side of album page In the field that reads "Ask a question" type in and submit "Album Translations" Then in the “Answer this question” field, insert a hyperlink to the album✧ Transcribing New ReleasesA few additional rules apply when transcribing new releases, especially if they are popular releases.

When a song is released and you wish to transcribe it, add a tag to the top of the page that includes a message and your username before you start transcribing, such as:

Transcribing - @your_username

Remember to save this text on the page before you start transcribing. This text now indicates you have "claimed" the page and are currently in the process of transcribing the song. If you see another user's claim on a page, DO NOT edit the lyrics as this will overwrite their progress. Remember to remove this text when you are finished transcribing the song!

As a lot of official lyrics to songs on Genius Korea can accessed easily through Korean streaming platforms, such as Melon or Bugs, there are very strict rules about claiming and transcribing that all users must adhere to:No user shall claim a new release before its scheduled release time (i.e. you cannot put your claim on a page at 5:59 PM KST if the release is scheduled for 6:00 PM KST)All song pages must be fully formatted with section headers (and an SEO header, if applicable) if there is no active claim on that page.No user shall claim more than one song at a time. If you wish to transcribe a new song, you must finish transcribing and formatting the song you are currently working on before moving on to the next one.Mass copy-pasting without formatting directly from official lyrics is strictly prohibited. (This refers to when one user posts the official lyrics to all tracks on an album in rapid succession)Coding the lyrics to identify different singers/line distribution is secondary and can be done after the song is fully formatted with section headers. The addition of singer names and the addition of all ad-libs should be done before the song can be awarded transcription IQ and marked as complete.Any user found violating these rules may receive a temporary penalty from the site for up to one (1) hour of the scheduled release period, and a warning on grounds of Transcription Misconduct. (i.e. penalties on songs scheduled for release at 6 PM KST may hold until at most 7 PM KST before receiving the warning). Repeat offenders may receive strikes that may count towards bans from the site.

Note to Transcribers+: Song pages that have been victim to mass copy-pasting (i.e. the penalized user has more than 50% contribution on the target song) will not be awarded Transcription lQ.✧ Fanchant VersionsAs described in the Genius Korea Glossary, fanchants are an essential aspect of live performances in K-Pop. Originally started as a trend by fans, many newer artists now post official fanchants on their fancafes.

To add the fanchant version of a song follow the following steps:Create a new song page credited to Genius Korea as the artist and the Primary tag must be "Non-Music."The page must be titled in the following format: Artist Name - Song Title (Fanchant Ver.)Romanized version of the song must be the first on the page. You may add Hangul version below, separate them with horizontal line.The lyrics of the song must be transcribed according to Genius guidelines mentioned above.The fan-performed segments of the song must be bolded within the song's lyrics. Do not format members parts!Examples:
Fanchant for "FAKE LOVE" by BTS
Fanchant for "I CAN’T STOP ME" by TWICE

Remember:Album - All fanchant versions must be added to this album in a chronological order of adding them on Genius (the newly made fanchant page goes as the last one in the album).Metadata - Every fanchant version must be tagged with the following tags: Fanchant & Genius Korea. No other secondary tags are allowed. No metadata besides tags are allowed on fanchant versions.Linking pages - On the fanchant page add a question "Original Song" and link to the original song via answer "Click here." Link to the fanchant version may be added to the Translations Q&A on the original song page—add it as the last link and name it "Fanchant." Q&A - Live Performances of the song featuring the fanchant can also be added to the Q&A by adding question titled "Live Performance with Fanchant." Any other official videos published by the artist related to the fanchant can also be added to the Q&A section (e.g. "Fanchant Guide").If you have any questions, please reach out to any editors or moderators. We are here to help the Korean community to succeed and grow!