If you use the free version of Spotify with ads and love using the app to check song lyrics, someone in the Swedish company’s offices wants to make you unhappy.
Why? Because the company is experimenting with the possibility of making song lyrics exclusive to its Premium subscribers. And it’s a shame because the karaoke mode was one of the best features of the app.
Let’s see how Spotify is testing users with this pressure tactic that ultimately aims to gain new paying subscribers, similar to what Netflix did with the removal of shared accounts.
Goodbye to singing along while listening to music
Some Spotify users on the free ad-supported tier have recently noticed that they’ve lost the ability to view lyrics in the app, which typically appear at the bottom of the screen when a song starts.
Instead, a message suggesting “enjoy lyrics on Premium” appears, along with a link to subscribe to the service.
In an official statement, the streaming music giant has confirmed that they are testing the idea with a small number of Spotify users in various markets.
If there’s an increase in subscriptions among those who have lost access to lyrics, the company may consider expanding it. However, if there is any negative backlash from free tier users, Spotify might abandon the idea.
The test is an effort to encourage people to pay a monthly subscription as Spotify works to turn a profit after posting losses in its last quarter.
Their balance sheet is under pressure, partly due to the significant investments in podcasts, which haven’t panned out well for the company.
They also spent a lot on severance pay after laying off 6% of their workforce earlier this year.
There’s no guarantee that Spotify will permanently remove song lyrics from the free version, but we can expect to find out fairly soon.
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