Spotify is Restricting Lyrics to Premium Members

Spotify appears to have quietly made song lyrics a Premium feature. As reported by Android Authority, Spotify first started to put lyrics behind the Premium paywall for some users in September, but what appeared to be a limited experiment could now be rolling out to all free users.

Many Spotify Free users on Reddit have been complaining about losing access to lyrics, and this is something I can confirm on my own devices. It’s certainly not a good look to take away a popular feature from free users. In recent months, however, Spotify has been trying different things to add more value to its Premium subscription, including a new AI DJ, music videos, a Premium audiobook catalog, and a desktop miniplayer. Now, you can apparently add song lyrics to that list.

Lyrics on Spotify are licensed from the Musixmatch music catalog, though I noticed that lyrics are not available on all songs and devices. Spotify’s lyrics are synced with the music to let listeners follow along in real time, which is something Apple Music and YouTube Music (on mobile) also do.

As Spotify now offers free auto-generated transcripts for podcasts, it’s strange to see the company put song lyrics behind a paywall. Anyway, if you think Spotify is starting to get a bit too greedy, you should probably get ready to pay more Premium. A recent report suggested that price increases are coming soon in the UK, Australia, and other markets.