YouTube Music tests limited access to free lyrics to encourage premium subscriptions

YouTube Music has begun testing a new feature that restricts the number of song lyrics free users can view each month, in a move widely seen as an effort to encourage more listeners to subscribe to its paid tier.

Under the new arrangement, free accounts can reportedly access full lyrics for only a limited number of songs each month, with reports suggesting the cap may be set at five songs, although Google has not officially confirmed the exact limit. Once the threshold is reached, users are shown only the opening lines of a track, while the remaining lyrics are hidden.

As users approach the limit, the app displays a notification within the lyrics section indicating how many free lyric views remain and prompting them to upgrade. After the allowance is exhausted, most of the lyrics appear blurred and a message invites users to unlock full access by subscribing to YouTube Music Premium.

The restriction does not appear to have been implemented uniformly, with some free users still able to view complete lyrics without limits, indicating that the feature may be rolling out gradually by region or account type. Where the cap is active, a counter bar above the lyrics clearly shows the remaining number of free views along with an option to switch to a paid plan.

YouTube Music Premium is currently priced at about $11 per month, compared with Spotify Premium at around $13 per month. Unlike YouTube Music, Spotify continues to provide full lyrics access to users on its free tier, having previously tested but ultimately abandoned a similar restriction. Spotify has also expanded its lyrics translation feature to more regions and introduced offline lyrics viewing for Premium subscribers.

The move comes as streaming platforms increasingly experiment with new features aimed at boosting paid subscriptions. While many users tolerate advertisements on free plans, limiting access to lyrics could encourage some listeners to upgrade, while others may turn to third-party applications such as Musixmatch or Shazam for real-time lyrics access.