- Spotify is getting a new About the Song feature
- It provides context and background for a number
- The lyrics will now be 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 like YouTube Music is making one of its free features exclusive to Premium.
If you’re wondering which music streaming services are best for you, or maybe thinking about switching (or signing up for more than one), it’s worth keeping an eye on these feature changes as they’re added and removed from different platforms.
You may remember that last month YouTube Music got cross-device queue sync, matching Spotify – but frustrating users (like me) who liked to keep different playlists running simultaneously in different places.
But we’ll start with Spotify: after introducing a feature to sync reading between audiobooks and physical books, and some text-related upgrades, it’s now pushing out a new info feature it calls About the Song.
Get the story behind a song on Spotify
The About Song feature is exactly what you’d guess it is, given the name. You get some background information and extra context for the tracks you listen to, and it’s presented in the familiar story format you know from social media.
Spotify describes the feature as being “for the curious listener,” and it’s currently attached to a beta label. “We believe that understanding the craft and context behind a song can deepen your connection to the music you love,” says Spotify.
For example, you can see information about what inspired a particular song or something the artist has said about it. You can also rate each story slide by giving it a thumbs up or a thumbs down, feedback that Spotify will presumably monitor.
However, this is only for Premium subscribers – 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, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.
YouTube Music starts paying subtitles
While Spotify is adding something new, YouTube Music seems to be taking something away – at least for non-Premium users – although 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 appears to have been paywalled. Previously available to everyone, non-paying users can now only see lyrics for five songs before being blocked.
It’s clearly an attempt to get more people to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium – but remember that you get YouTube Music Premium included if you also sign up for YouTube Premium, so that’s another option.
The feature has been in testing for a while, but it seems to be reaching everyone now. Presumably these early tests led to enough people signing up for a subscription, but it’s also worth noting that lyrics are a free feature on Spotify.
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