Although Spotify is the global leader in music streaming, YouTube Music is slowly but steadily catching up. We learned about a controversial test conducted by the Google-owned app in September, where lyrics were capped for non-paying users. This restriction appears to be rolling out widely over the past couple of days, per multiple user reports.
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Reports on Reddit have spiked over the past couple of days, detailing the limit kicking in for non-Premium accounts. Free users will seemingly be limited to five views of the lyrics, and will be directed to get YouTube Music Premium or start a free trial (if eligible) to view them in full.
Spotify doesn’t have this limitation, for now
Once your limit is exhausted, the Lyrics pane will only show the first couple of lines, with the rest blurred out, as shown in the screenshots above. I’m not seeing this limit on one of my free accounts, so it’s likely limited to certain regions for now.
When this restriction is live in your region or account, there should be a prominent bar just above the lyrics that shows the number of free viewings left, along with the option to “Unlock lyrics with Premium” (via 9to5Google).
Upgrading to YouTube Music costs only $11/month, compared to Spotify Premium’s $13/month price tag. However, Spotify continues to offer lyrics to users on its free tiers. While the company briefly tested paywalled lyrics, it didn’t proceed with the plan and continues to provide lyrics to both free and paying subscribers.
News about YouTube Music’s lyrics paywall comes days after Spotify announced the global expansion of its lyrics translation feature, which was limited to a handful of regions since its 2022 release. At the same time, Spotify has also released the ability to view lyrics offline, although this perk is reserved for Premium subscribers.
Given that this cap on lyrics has been in the works for a few months now, we don’t expect YouTube Music to change course in response to user criticism. Of course, you can use apps like Musixmatch and Shazam as alternatives, which offer real-time lyrics similar to YouTube Music.
Google is likely hoping to boost Premium subscription numbers with this move, though only time will tell if it works. While users may have made their peace with the number of ads on YouTube Music’s free tier, the cap on lyrics could well be the last straw.
