Spotify has confirmed to Billboard that it is testing a paid lyrics feature for its free users.
The streaming service revealed in a statement that the lyrics paywall is currently being tested on a select number of its free users. “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,” a rep wrote. “In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets. We don’t have any further news to share at this time.”
Billboard adds, however, that Reddit and Twitter/X users are calling the feature as “‘ableist’ against the deaf community,” forcing them to pay up.
It remains to be seen whether Spotify will implement the lyrics paywall for all free users.
Elsewhere in music, Diddy is giving the publishing rights back to his Bad Boy Records artists.
