YouTube Music starts limiting lyrics access for free users, pushes Premium subscription

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• YouTube Music limits lyrics access for free users, pushing Premium subscription.
• Free users can view lyrics for about five songs before hitting a paywall.
• Google has not confirmed if this change is permanent or just a test.

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YouTube Music starts limiting lyrics access for free users, pushes Premium subscription

YouTube Music appears to be taking away a small but much-loved free feature. According to reports from users and 9to5Google, the app has started putting song lyrics behind a paywall, something that was earlier available to everyone.

Several users have noticed a new message under the Lyrics tab on the Now Playing screen. It says something along the lines of “You have X views remaining. Unlock lyrics with Premium.” Free users can view lyrics for around five songs. After that limit is crossed, only a few lines of the lyrics are visible, while the rest of the song is blurred out. To see the full lyrics, users are prompted to subscribe.

Lyrics were first added to YouTube Music back in 2020 and quickly became a go-to feature for people who like to sing along or understand songs better. The change has come as a surprise to many, especially since lyrics were never positioned as a premium-only feature earlier.

Reports suggest that Google has been testing this move since at least September, but only with a limited group of users. What seems to be happening now could be a wider rollout, though the company has not officially confirmed anything yet. There is also a chance that this is still part of an experiment and may change based on user feedback.

One possible reason behind the move is cost. Music platforms often rely on third-party services like Musixmatch to provide lyrics, and licensing those lyrics does not come cheap. Locking lyrics behind a subscription could be a way for YouTube Music to recover some of that expense.

This is not the first time a streaming service has tried something like this. Spotify put lyrics behind its Premium paywall in 2024. However, the decision did not go down well with users, and after strong backlash, Spotify brought lyrics back for free listeners.

YouTube Music Premium currently costs $10.99 a month in the US. The plan offers ad-free listening, offline downloads, and access to extra features. The pricing is in line with rivals like Apple Music and Amazon Music.

For now, free users will have to live with limited lyrics, at least until Google clarifies whether this change is permanent or just another test.