{
  "$schema": "https://songforgeai.com/scoring-standard.schema.json",
  "name": "Lyric Scoring Standard",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-20",
  "author": "SongForgeAI",
  "canonical": "https://songforgeai.com/scoring/standard",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0 — Attribution required. Cite the standard by name + version when implementing or scoring against it.",
  "summary": "An evidence-based 12-metric rubric for scoring song lyrics. Weighted across three tiers (Craft 25%, Expression 40%, Impact 35%). Anti-inflation rules are load-bearing — a 50 is average; a 90+ is rare.",
  "philosophy": [
    "Gravity Rule: the default is 50. Every point above 50 must be earned with specific evidence from the lyric itself.",
    "Burden of Proof: scores above 80 require the scorer to cite specific lines + explain why they justify the number.",
    "Antagonist Ceiling: a dedicated critical voice challenges every score. If it finds a real weakness the score drops.",
    "Historical Context: scores anchor to professional craft standards, not to other AI output. A 90+ means near-flawless execution across all 12 metrics."
  ],
  "tiers": [
    { "id": "craft", "label": "Craft", "weight": 0.25, "description": "Can this person write? Mechanics, structure, rhyme, and word choice." },
    { "id": "expression", "label": "Expression", "weight": 0.40, "description": "Does it say something worth hearing? Specificity, originality, truth, and voice." },
    { "id": "impact", "label": "Impact", "weight": 0.35, "description": "Will anyone remember it tomorrow? Transcendence, arc, stickiness, and genre fit." }
  ],
  "metrics": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "tier": "craft",
      "name": "Prosody & Musicality",
      "short": "Prosody",
      "description": "Meter, stress patterns, consonant and vowel clusters, intentional silence, and breath points. Does the lyric feel good in the mouth?",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "Natural rhythmic flow that a singer can inhabit without fighting the phrasing. Stressed syllables land on strong beats."
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "tier": "craft",
      "name": "Structural Architecture",
      "short": "Structure",
      "description": "Song shape, arc, verse progression, chorus return, and bridge revelation. Does the structure serve the story?",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "Each section has a clear job. Verses build, choruses resolve, the bridge shifts perspective. Nothing feels arbitrary."
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "tier": "craft",
      "name": "Rhyme Intelligence",
      "short": "Rhyme",
      "description": "Rhyme as craft servant: internal rhyme, slant rhyme, strategic non-rhyme. Does the rhyme scheme feel intentional rather than forced?",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "Rhymes land with purpose. A mix of perfect, slant, and internal rhyme that never bends meaning to satisfy a sound."
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "tier": "craft",
      "name": "Economy of Language",
      "short": "Economy",
      "description": "Every word earning its place. No filler, no padding, no lines that exist only to set up a rhyme.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "You cannot remove a word without losing something. Every syllable carries weight or music."
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "tier": "expression",
      "name": "Lyrical Specificity",
      "short": "Specificity",
      "description": "Concrete imagery, sensory detail, proper nouns, time anchors. The opposite of abstract generalities.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "The song lives in a real place with real objects. \"Tangerines and someone else's smile\" instead of \"memories of you.\""
    },
    {
      "id": 6,
      "tier": "expression",
      "name": "Imagery Originality",
      "short": "Imagery",
      "description": "Fresh metaphors, defamiliarized objects, governing images that haven't been written to death.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "Images that surprise on first read and deepen on second. No shattered hearts, no oceans of tears, no wings of freedom."
    },
    {
      "id": 7,
      "tier": "expression",
      "name": "Emotional Truth",
      "short": "Emotion",
      "description": "The ring-test: does it feel true? Earned emotion, unforced vulnerability, no borrowed sentiment.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "The emotion arrives through specificity and honesty, not through telling the listener what to feel."
    },
    {
      "id": 8,
      "tier": "expression",
      "name": "Voice & POV Integrity",
      "short": "Voice",
      "description": "Narrator consistency, perspective clarity, and a credible speaker. Does this sound like one person talking?",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "A distinct human presence. Word choices, diction, and references that belong to one coherent narrator."
    },
    {
      "id": 9,
      "tier": "impact",
      "name": "The Transcendent Line",
      "short": "Transcendence",
      "description": "The unrepeatable line. Not necessarily the cleverest; the truest. The line someone would quote.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "At least one line that stops a listener cold. The kind of line people screenshot and share."
    },
    {
      "id": 10,
      "tier": "impact",
      "name": "Emotional Arc",
      "short": "Arc",
      "description": "Does the song move from state A to state B? Revelation, release, recalibration. Not just emotion, but emotional motion.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "The listener ends the song in a different place than they started. Something shifted."
    },
    {
      "id": 11,
      "tier": "impact",
      "name": "Memorability",
      "short": "Memory",
      "description": "The one-hour test: could you recall this 60 minutes after hearing it once? Hooks, refrains, and sticky phrases.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "Lines that lodge in the brain involuntarily. A chorus you catch yourself humming without trying."
    },
    {
      "id": 12,
      "tier": "impact",
      "name": "Genre Authenticity",
      "short": "Genre",
      "description": "Does this honor its genre while extending it? Genre fluency without genre cliche.",
      "whatGoodLooksLike": "A country song that sounds like country but doesn't sound like every country song. Respect and surprise."
    }
  ],
  "gradeScale": [
    { "grade": "S+", "range": [96, 100], "label": "Immortal. Canon-defining." },
    { "grade": "S",  "range": [91, 95],  "label": "Canonical. Future songs learn from this." },
    { "grade": "A+", "range": [86, 90],  "label": "Exceptional. Remarkable craft and depth." },
    { "grade": "A",  "range": [80, 85],  "label": "Excellent. Genuinely strong, worthy of replay." },
    { "grade": "B+", "range": [73, 79],  "label": "Strong. Accomplished with clear strengths." },
    { "grade": "B",  "range": [65, 72],  "label": "Good. Solid professional output." },
    { "grade": "C+", "range": [55, 64],  "label": "Average-plus. Competent but unremarkable." },
    { "grade": "C",  "range": [45, 54],  "label": "Average. Functional, nothing to remember." },
    { "grade": "D+", "range": [35, 44],  "label": "Below average. Identifiable flaws." },
    { "grade": "D",  "range": [25, 34],  "label": "Weak. Significant problems." },
    { "grade": "F",  "range": [0, 24],   "label": "Poor. Fundamentally broken." }
  ],
  "percentileAnchors": [
    { "minScore": 95, "label": "Top 1%" },
    { "minScore": 90, "label": "Top 3%" },
    { "minScore": 86, "label": "Top 8%" },
    { "minScore": 82, "label": "Top 12%" },
    { "minScore": 78, "label": "Top 18%" },
    { "minScore": 73, "label": "Top 25%" },
    { "minScore": 65, "label": "Top 35%" },
    { "minScore": 56, "label": "Above average" }
  ],
  "compositeFormula": "composite = round(craftAvg * 0.25 + expressionAvg * 0.40 + impactAvg * 0.35)",
  "changelog": [
    { "version": "1.0.0", "date": "2026-04-20", "notes": "Initial public release. 12 metrics finalized, anti-inflation rules documented, grade scale locked." }
  ]
}