YouTube Music didn’t learn from Spotify’s mistake, tries to paywall lyrics


- YouTube Music is experimenting with paywalling lyrics for its free users.
- The company is limiting the number of free lyrics views before prompting users to upgrade to a Premium account.
- This move is similar to what Spotify did, a change it eventually reversed after user backlash.
Spotify and YouTube Music are reasonably competitive in their features, with each service having some nice extras. Spotify Connect is a lifesaver if you have multiple devices, whereas YouTube Music being bundled in YouTube Premium works out in its favor. Both services have been trying to convert more of their free users into becoming paid customers, and now it seems YouTube Music is borrowing a leaf out of Spotify’s book by paywalling the lyrics feature.
Reddit user Xinfinte spotted that they had limited views of lyrics remaining on YouTube Music. The app prompted them to upgrade to Premium to unlock lyrics beyond the free limit.
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