The in-app lyrics feature was first introduced in Malaysia back in 2020 to both free and premium users. — Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
Spotify may start requiring a premium subscription for users to view song lyrics, with some reportedly being greeted with a message saying “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium” when they attempt to access the feature.
In a statement to The Verge, Spotify co-head of global communications CJ Stanley says that it part of a “routine test”.
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“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.
“We don’t have any further news to share at this time.
“In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets,” Stanley says.
Details on the market regions that tests are being conducted in, the number of users involved, and the test’s duration were not shared.
The in-app lyrics feature was first introduced in Malaysia back in 2020 to both free and premium users, with lyrics licensed from Musixmatch as part as a global collaboration.
Users on X (formerly known as Twitter) have responded negatively to the test, with some calling it “ableist”.
“Please don’t. As someone who is hard hearing, this would be so unfair for the Deaf and Hard Hearing community or for anyone who have troubles when it comes to audio. Spotify, you’re so close on being on my dislike list,” wrote X user @_CasinoQuackin.
Another user, @jjowensdev, wrote: “Apparently, Spotify has chosen to paywall an accessibility feature.
“Deaf people won’t be able to view the lyrics, while hearing people can listen to the songs and not need the lyrics as much.”
Earlier in June, rumours surfaced that the company plans to expand its offerings with a subscription tier allegedly dubbed “Supremium” internally, which was claimed to be a more expensive plan featuring high-fidelity audio.
Last month, the music streaming platform raised the monthly subscription fee across all its ad-free premium plans in Malaysia.
