YouTube Music just paywalled this basic feature for some users

Summary

• YouTube Music is potentially testing putting song lyrics behind a paywall, requiring YouTube Premium.
• Spotify tried paywalling lyrics last year, and reversed course after heavy user backlash.
• If it is just a test, it’s possible YouTube may decide to reverse course like Spotify did.

There are three major players in the music streaming space that most people tend to favor: Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. All of them are competing for subscribers, with Spotify recently launching its lossless audio feature to attract new users, after delaying the feature for years.

One advantage YouTube Music has over both Spotify and Apple Music is that it is bundled with YouTube Premium. This means you not only get ad-free videos on YouTube, the largest video platform on the planet, but you also get ad-free access to YouTube Music, which boasts a music library as extensive as Spotify’s and Apple Music’s. Despite this benefit, it appears YouTube Music is now testing a new way to encourage free users to start paying for its service.

According to a rather colorfully worded post on Reddit (via Android Authority), YouTube Music has begun to implement a paywall for viewing song lyrics. A Reddit user named Xinfinte was using YouTube Music to view lyrics when they suddenly received a pop-up stating they only had three lyric views remaining, after which they would need to subscribe to Premium to see more.

It’s unclear whether this is just a test or something YouTube is rolling out to all its free users, but the move is already facing backlash.

Spotify already tried this year and had to reverse course

YouTube Music might just be testing this

This isn’t the first time a music streaming service has tried to hide song lyrics behind a paywall. Last year, Spotify did the same thing when it suddenly started charging for song lyrics, which had always been free, telling free users to subscribe to Premium to see them. After facing significant backlash online, Spotify quickly reversed this decision and made lyrics free for all users again.

On Reddit, some users suggest that YouTube might be using third-party services like LyricFind and MusixMatch to display song lyrics, which could be why it is testing making the feature a Premium perk, as it probably costs YouTube to operate those on its platform. However, many users remain frustrated by the change, with one Redditor saying, “The audacity of YouTube when people can just Google lyrics for free.”

Some users on Reddit seem okay with the change, one saying, “I actually have no problem with this. Lyrics are available everywhere on the internet and putting them right where you listen to music is definitely a value added service.”

Again, it’s worth noting that it’s unclear whether this is a permanent addition to YouTube Music or just a test. Some Reddit users report they aren’t encountering any paywall when it comes to song lyrics, leading many to believe it is simply a test for a small group of users.

If it’s just a test, YouTube still might change its mind. Spotify tried something similar and pulled back, so YouTube Music could do the same and learn from Spotify’s mistakes, depending on the backlash.