Spotify users who stream songs on the platform for free can now once again see the lyrics for any song they listen to on the service. Spotify has reversed the decision it took in May that required a Premium subscription to see the lyrics.
Free users were still allowed to see the lyrics of songs, but it was capped at three songs per month. Now, after facing severe backlash, free users on Spotify will be able to see lyrics for any number of songs.
A Spotify spokesperson told Engadget:
At Spotify, we’re always testing and iterating. This means availability of our features can vary across tiers and between markets and devices. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be expanding Lyrics availability for Spotify Free users so more people can enjoy viewing more lyrics, globally.
Earlier, Spotify"s decision to cap lyrics for free users was presumably taken to push people to go for subscription plans. Recently, Spotify revised its subscription prices, and now they start at $11 per month in the United States.
Besides, in a recent earnings call, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek revealed the company"s plans to bring more features and improve what"s already offered to free users. It seems that access to lyrics for free users without any cap was one of the updates.
While the exact reason behind this change of heart from Spotify isn"t clear, it does show that the music streaming giant is constantly experimenting and fixing the features it rolls out. Recently, Spotify, whose monthly active users grew by 14% YoY (year-over-year), confirmed that the company is working on a Deluxe plan.
The Deluxe plan was claimed to offer higher audio quality, enhanced controls, and better features over the current premium plan. Spotify CEO further added that the Deluxe plan may cost around $17-$18. However, no timeline for the launch was revealed.