YouTube Music Lyrics Behind Paywall Sparks User Concern

Google is rolling out a feature to limit free YouTube Music accounts’ access to song lyrics, restricting users to viewing only five songs per month, with subsequent views blurred and prompting a “Premium” unlock. Free YouTube Music users will be presented with a banner warning them of their limited lyric view count, which starts at 5 songs per month. After this limit is reached, users can only see the first few lines of lyrics before they are obscured, prompting them to upgrade to a paid plan for full access. The move appears to mark a shift in Google’s strategy to monetize its music streaming service, with premium features like unlimited lyric views set to be promoted as part of its subscription model.