YouTube Music Just Locked Song Lyrics Behind a Paywall — And Fans Are Furious
YoutubeThursday, 12 February 2026 at 13:09
Google has a new plan
for YouTube Music, and it might make you want to scream. If you do not pay for
the app, you can no longer read all the words to your favourite songs. This
change is rolling out to many users right now. It is a big shift for a tool
that used to be free for everyone. If you like to sing along, you may have to
open your wallet soon.
Five Songs and You Are Out
The new rule is simple
but tough. When you tap the lyrics tab, you will see a small note. It tells you
how many views you have left. Most people only get to see the words for five
songs. After you use those up, the app hides the rest. You will only see the
first few lines of a track. The rest of the words will look blurry. To see the
full text again, the app will ask you to buy a Premium plan.
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Pay to Play and Sing
Why is Google doing
this? They want more people to pay for their service. Right now, a month of
Music Premium costs about $11 in the US. If you want no ads on regular videos
too, it is $14. Google has to pay other firms to show those lyrics, and they
want you to cover that cost. This move follows other steps to lock the app
down. Before this, they blocked the ability to play music in the back while you
use other apps.
Will It Stick This Time?
YouTube is not the
first to try this. Another big music app, Spotify, tried to lock lyrics away
last year. Their fans got very mad, and the firm had to back down. Now, we have
to see if YouTube users will do the same. For now, the "paywall" is hitting
more phones every day. If you don't want to pay, you might have to search for
the words on the web. It is a bit of a pain for those who just want to jam out
for free.
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