YouTube Music: Lyrics disappear behind paywall for some users

Google has confirmed reports that some YouTube Music users are currently no longer seeing song lyrics. It is an experiment to explore future decisions, Google told Android Authority.

Specifically, Google is testing to reliably display lyrics in the YouTube Music app only to paying Premium subscribers. Free users of the music streaming app affected by the test will receive a quota of free lyric views. Once a certain threshold is reached, the lyrics will no longer be displayed in the app.

Previously, several users had reported restrictions on access to song lyrics in the YouTube Music app on social media. Google itself writes in the statement to Android Authority that only a small percentage of free users are impacted.

Controversial Experiments

Google regularly experiments with controversial changes to its YouTube business model to make the paid Premium subscription more attractive to users. Some of these tests are implemented permanently, including an exclusive Premium bitrate at 1080p resolution.

Other measures are not pursued after a testing phase. These include Google's particularly controversial move to make the 4K resolution of YouTube videos available only to Premium subscribers. After the experiment ended, Google apparently decided against implementing this change permanently. Hiding lyrics in YouTube Music after a certain number of views is only a minor restriction in comparison. In any case, the lyrics feature has not yet reached all users in Germany.

Google's role model could be competitor Spotify. The Swedish music streaming service also blocked access to song lyrics in the app for free users in 2024. However, after critical feedback from users, Spotify first softened this restriction and later abolished it completely.

(dahe)