For some time now you’ve been able to read the lyrics of tracks while playing them on Spotify, via a swipe-up panel on the Now Playing screen.
However, this week some of Spotify’s free users have been unable to access the feature, with The Verge noting an ‘Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium’ message as a sign that the feature has been paywalled.
For now, it’s just a test.
“In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets,” said Spotify’s spokesperson, alongside its usual line about tests sometimes turning into real features, and sometimes only serving as “important learning”.
Spotify’s free-to-paid funnel has always involved additional features: removing ads, offline downloads, unlimited skips and most recently its AI-powered DJ.
Paywalling a feature that free users previously had access to feels a bit like it’s been taken from Elon Musk’s Twitter playbook, but another nudge for free users to subscribe will be cheered by the music industry.
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