Spotify users have long asked for in-app lyrics for years without getting it. That, however, is changing with the company announcing that a new Lyrics feature will now be available for all global users across all platforms, both on the free and premium plans.
The feature has been made possible with the company striking a deal with Musixmatch that claims to boast of having lyrics of more than 8 million songs. Before this new deal, Spotify was providing lyrics to users in a few selected countries, namely India, countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
A few of the aforementioned countries first got the feature back in 2019 as a test run. After the test was a success, the number of supported markets was increased from 4 to 28 in the same geographical location, possibly due to licensing issues. Japan users have also had lyrics support, but not directly on the main Spotify app, as they had to use a standalone app named SyncPower.
The other markets, however, had to make do with a feature that provided lyrics mixed with trivia about the song and the artist. Meaning a song could be playing, but instead of getting only the song’s lyrics, other facts about the song and other background information are provided on the screen, making activities like singing karaoke basically impossible. This feature, which was introduced in partnership with Genius, will now be shelved for all users in favour of real-time lyrics that are synced with the song being played.
Real-time lyrics on music apps are generally not provided by music publishers, making companies turn to third-party providers. The three famous ones with a wide library spanning different genres are Genius, LyricFind and Musixmatch. This complicates the deal negotiation and signing part as music apps on the other hand are quite many in comparison, including Deezer, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music just to name a few. This might have definitely played a part in why it has taken so long for the feature to be available worldwide.
To access the lyrics, or share them if you want to;
- Tap on the “Now Playing View” on a song.
- While listening, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
- The lyrics will now be visible and in sync with the song that is playing
- To share, simply tap the “Share” button at the bottom of the lyrics screen and then select the lyrics you want to share. You will then be provided with various third-party platforms that you can share to.
The lyrics can also be accessed on large devices through Spotify’s app for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung, Roku, LG, Sky and Comcast.
