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Selected Spotify users started noticing that their ‘in-app’ lyrics feature, which is normally available for all accounts was locked behind a paywall, asking them to sign up for a Spotify Premium account
Enjoy going through lyrics while listening to songs? Well, get ready to spare some cash since Spotify has started testing a lyrics paywall that is asking users to sign up for a premium account inorder to view song lyrics.
Users started noticing that lyrics which usually pop-up under the current songs are now locked behind a paywall, which when clicked opens a notification bubble that reads “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium”, while also containing a premium sign-up link.
Non-premium users, which account for nearly 50% of Spotify’s population do not already have a lot of benefits therefore the lyrics paywall received quite an outburst with some users even going as far as deleting the application.
https://twitter.com/prakritiaryaa/status/1698943453521183199
Spotify jumped in to clear the air and clarified that the lyrics paywall feature was part of a routine test, which was only conducted on a limited number of users.
“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning,” said Spotify’s co-head of global communications ‘CJ Stanley’.
“In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets,” he added.
While statements from Stanley did clarify that the release was only a routine feature testing, it did not however deny Spotify’s plans on launching the lyrics paywall on a larger scale. Looking at the platform’s recent losses with podcasts and audiobooks, a larger release can be considered a possibility.
Will Spotify really add lyrics to premium? Reply with your thoughts in the comments below!
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