Spotify just announced changes to its ‘Lyrics’ feature, including global adoption of its ‘Lyrics Translation’ function and offline availability of lyrics to Premium users.
A visual update is also included, with lyrics now showing above the ‘Now Playing View’. This follows similar software updates from Apple Music last year, including expanded lyric translation and a pronunciation guide option.
Spotify originally launched its real-time lyrics feature in 2020 in 26 countries, before rolling it out globally the following year.
It has since tested restricting lyrics to premium subscribers only, before shifting to a policy limiting how many songs a month free listeners could see lyrics for.
These updates signal a broader shift to prioritising lyrics in the music-streaming experience as a more prominent feature.
This was highlighted in Music Ally Connect‘s recent ‘How lyrics amplify the streaming experience’. panel Speakers included songwriter and vocal producer at Phrased Differently Maegan Cottone and senior product manager at YouTube Music John Oberbeck.
Cottone spoke about the importance of lyrics as a vessel for world building, shifting from passive to active listening, and expressing one’s artistic identity.
She also shared her belief that real pathos in the music industry involves letting the art lead, of which lyric creation is an important cornerstone.
“We don’t tell Christian Dior what we want to wear — he tells us. Why doesn’t it work that way in music?” she rhetorically asked.
