- Spotify is getting a new About the Song feature
- It gives context and background for a track
- Lyrics are now getting paywalled on YouTube Music
It’s already been a busy week of upgrades for the Spotify app, and there’s now another to add to the list – but at the same time it looks as though YouTube Music is making one of its free features a Premium-only exclusive.
If you’re wondering about the best music streaming services for you, or perhaps thinking of switching (or signing up for more than one), it’s worth keeping an eye on these feature changes, as they’re added to and removed from various platforms.
You may remember that last month YouTube Music got queue syncing between devices, matching Spotify – but frustrating users (like me) who liked to keep different playlists going simultaneously in different places.
But we start with Spotify: having recently introduced a feature to sync reading between audiobooks and physical books, and some lyrics-related upgrades, it’s now pushing out a new info feature it’s calling About the Song.
Get the story behind a song on Spotify
The About the Song feature is exactly what you might guess it is, given the name. You get some background information and extra context for the tracks you’re listening to, and it’s presented in the familiar story-style format you’ll know from social media.
Spotify describes the feature as being “for the curious listener”, and it’s currently got a beta label attached to it. “We believe that understanding the craft and context behind a song can deepen your connection to the music you love,” says Spotify.
You might see information about what inspired a particular song, for example, or something the artist has said about it. You can rate each story slide as well, giving it a thumbs up or a thumbs down, feedback which Spotify will presumably monitor.
This is only for Premium subscribers however – if you’re not on a paid plan, you won’t see it. It’s being pushed out now on Android and iOS, and is initially available in the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.
YouTube Music is starting to paywall lyrics
While Spotify is adding something new, it seems YouTube Music is taking something away – at least for non-Premium users – though this isn’t a change we have an official announcement about, like we do with About the Song on Spotify.
As reported by 9to5Google, the ability to bring up lyrics while listening to tracks seems to have been paywalled. Previously available to everyone, non-paying users can now only view lyrics for five songs before they get blocked.
It’s clearly an effort to get more people to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium – though bear in mind that you get YouTube Music Premium included if you sign up for YouTube Premium as well, so that’s another option.
The feature has been in testing for a while, but it appears to be reaching everyone now. Presumably, those early tests led to enough people signing up for a subscription, but it’s also worth noting that lyrics is a free feature on Spotify.
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