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YouTube Music Reportedly Adds Paywall to Limit Lyrics Access for Some Users

YouTube Music Reportedly Adds Paywall to Limit Lyrics Access for Some Users

Spotify previously added a similar paywall, but reversed the change after heavy backlash from users.

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 9 February 2026 11:02 IST

YouTube Music Reportedly Adds Paywall to Limit Lyrics Access for Some Users

The move seems aimed at encouraging more people to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium

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Highlights

YouTube Music is paywalling song lyrics for some users
Lyrics could remain fully available only to paying users
YouTube has not officially announced this change yet

YouTube Music appears to be testing new ways to encourage free users to opt for paid subscriptions. Multiple new User reports on social media platforms suggest that the app is starting to limit access to song lyrics, which were previously available to everyone. It seems that non-paid users can now view lyrics for only five songs per month. After the limit, people could see only the first few lines of the selected song. Lyrics could remain fully available only to paying users. YouTube Music Premium is also included with a YouTube Premium subscription.

YouTube Music Limits Lyrics Access, Asks Users to 'Unlock' Feature

According to user reports on Reddit and X, YouTube Music has added a paywall to its song lyrics feature. Some users saw a pop-up while viewing lyrics that says they have only a limited number of views left before needing to opt for YouTube Music Premium.

Screenshots shared by multiple users online show a bar above the lyrics reading “You have XX views remaining” along with an option to upgrade to Premium: “Unlock lyrics with Premium.”

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Once the free limit is reached, users are prompted to start a Premium subscription or a free trial. Free users appear to get around five lyric views in total. Once the limit is reached, the platform shows only the first couple of lines, with the remaining text blurred out.

YouTube has not officially announced this change yet. This feature has reportedly been tested for some time and appears to be limited to certain regions for now. This update could be aimed at encouraging more users to sign up for a Premium subscription.

Meanwhile, Spotify currently offers lyrics for its unpaid users. The company tried to put song lyrics behind a paywall in 2024, but it rolled back the change after following widespread backlash from users.

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In India, YouTube Music has Individual, Family, Two-Person, and Student plans. The Individual plan is priced at Rs. 119 per month. The Family and Two-Person plans are priced at Rs. 149 and Rs. 179 per month, respectively. The Student plan costs Rs. 59 per month. Eligible first-time users will get one month free trial.

The YouTube Premium subscription also includes ad-free YouTube and access to YouTube Music Premium. It starts at Rs. 149 per month for the Individual plan.

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Further reading: YouTube Music, YouTube Music Premium, YouTube Premium, Spotify, Google, YouTube

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More