YouTube Music Makes Premium Subscription Mandatory for Accessing Full Song Lyrics Globally

The new rule for YouTube Music, which has been in testing for the past few months, has now been implemented for users worldwide. The music streaming platform, owned by Google, has now made a premium subscription mandatory to view song lyrics.

This feature, which was previously available for free, has now been placed behind a 'paywall,' causing inconvenience for regular users. Under the new arrangement, users will only be able to read song lyrics for free a maximum of five times.

After the five-time limit is exhausted, users will see the message 'Unlock Lyrics with Premium' when navigating to the lyrics tab. Furthermore, non-subscribed users will only see the initial few lines of the song, with the remaining part being 'blurred,' and they will not even be able to scroll to view it.

Spotify had previously conducted a similar test, and now YouTube Music has expanded this to a global scale. Currently, the monthly fee for YouTube Music Premium in the United States is set at $10.99, which includes ad-free music, background playback, and offline download features.

Those who opt for YouTube Premium for $13.99 can avail these features for both music and videos.

According to a recent report released by Google, the number of paid subscribers across its various services has exceeded 325 million. In 2025 alone, YouTube generated over $60 billion in revenue from advertising and subscriptions.