Singing along to your favorite songs on Spotify now requires a Premium subscription, as viewing lyrics is no longer available to all users.
The once-free feature now requires a Premium subscription, which starts at $11/month for the Individual tier and goes all the way up to $17/month for the Family account shareable with up to six people.
It doesn’t matter if you’re on an ad-supported service or are enjoying your free Spotify trial—you reportedly won’t be able to view lyrics anymore like before.
You may need a Spotify Premium subscription to view lyrics
This was first reported on Reddit, backed by PopBase on X (formerly Twitter). In a statement to The Verge, Spotify has confirmed that this is a test:
At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning. In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets.
The company wouldn’t say which markets are participating in the test and what percentage of users are seeing this feature or how long the test might last. If Spotify rolls out this change more widely, it’ll cause a stir among users because competing music streaming services provide free lyrics.
For example, Apple Music supports viewing time-synchronized lyrics no matter your subscription status. You could be currently on a free Apple Music trial, and still you’d be able to view lyrics without restrictions.
This change seems to be rolling out in stages because, in my brief testing, I could view lyrics on an ad-supported Spotify account. Also, Spotify’s US page detailing the benefits of Premium plans doesn’t mention song lyrics at all.
Spotify’s financial troubles
Spotify seems desperate to increase its revenue. Raising a subscription wall around such an essential and popular feature as lyrics is another sign of how cutthroat a business music streaming has become.
Despite being the world’s leading music service with more than 500 million customers, Spotify’s business still isn’t profitable.
The Swedish company has majorly invested in podcasting, advertising, and more. Also, its operating expenses and headcount are too high. With decisions like restricting lyrics to Premium subscribers, Spotify hopes to incentivize more of its customer base to sign up for its higher-priced Premium subscriptions.
But the move could alienate some folks who might find themselves incentivized to look for an alternative service that doesn’t charge to access lyrics.