YouTube Music starts putting lyrics behind a paywall

Free YouTube Music accounts are now seeing their access to lyrics limited, according to multiple reports. Google started testing lyrics as an exclusive feature for Premium users in September, but it appears that it’s now receiving a wider rollout. It seems that free users will be limited to viewing lyrics for five songs per month, though we’ve reached out to Google for confirmation.

Once that limit is reached, users will only be able to see the first couple of lines. Everything beyond that will be blurred out, and they’ll be prompted to “Unlock lyrics with Premium.” The banner warning users about their limited lyric views remaining appears prominently when you open the tab, complete with a countdown.