Some free YouTube Music accounts are now seeing their access to lyrics limited, according to multiple reports. Google started testing lyrics as an exclusive feature for Premium users in September, but it appears that it’s now receiving a wider rollout. It seems that free users will be limited to viewing lyrics for five songs per month.
YouTube Music starts putting lyrics behind a paywall
Some free accounts are being prompted to ‘Unlock lyrics with Premium.’
Some free accounts are being prompted to ‘Unlock lyrics with Premium.’
Image: Bruhyoulikejazz / Reddit
is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget.
Once that limit is reached, users will only be able to see the first couple of lines. Everything beyond that will be blurred out, and they’ll be prompted to “Unlock lyrics with Premium.” The banner warning users about their limited lyric views remaining appears prominently when you open the tab, complete with a countdown.
”We are running an experiment with a small percentage of ad-supported users that may impact their ability to access the lyrics feature repeatedly,” YouTube spokesperson Alex McQuiston tells The Verge. “We often run experiments on YouTube Music to better inform our decisions around feature improvements. The majority of our global users will not see any changes to the lyrics feature.”
Update, February 9th: Added statement from YouTube.
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