According to several users, YouTube Music has begun placing lyrics – a previously free feature introduced in 2020 – behind a paywall. 9to5Google. In the latest update, the “Song” tab in the Now Playing screen displays a warning message: “You have [x] Scene left. Unlock lyrics with Premium.” Free users get lyrics for five songs, then after that, only a few lines will be visible before the rest of the song fades out.
According to previous reports, Google has been testing the feature with a limited number of users since at least September. It has been speculated that YouTube may have made this change to recoup the costs incurred with song aggregators like MusicMatch. Spotify also put songs behind its premium paywall in 2024, but a user backlash forced it to reinstate the feature for free users.
Google has not confirmed the change yet, and although it appears to be a big rollout, the feature change may still be in testing. YouTube Music’s premium subscription, with ad-free playback, offline downloads, AI features and more, costs $10.99 in the US – the same as its main rivals Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
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