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YouTube Music Hides Lyrics Behind Paywall
9 Feb
Summary
- YouTube Music now limits free lyrics access for users.
- A subscription is required to view full song lyrics.
- This change follows a similar move by Spotify in 2024.
YouTube Music has started placing song lyrics behind a paywall, a feature that was previously free since its introduction in 2020. The latest update indicates that free users will only see a limited number of lyric views before the rest of the song is blurred, with a message prompting them to unlock lyrics with Premium. Google had been testing this feature with a select group of users since at least September.
It is speculated that this change aims to offset costs associated with lyric aggregators like Musixmatch. Spotify made a similar move in 2024, but user opposition led to the reinstatement of free lyrics. Google has not officially confirmed this rollout, and it is possible the change is still in its testing phase.
YouTube Music Premium costs $10.99 in the US and includes benefits such as ad-free listening and offline downloads, matching the pricing of competitors like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
