Spotify finally rolls out real-time lyrics to global users

The feature is powered by lyrics provider Musixmatch, and expands on a prior deal Spotify had with the company to offer lyrics to users in ... Afteryearsofignoringconsumerdemandforin-applyrics,particularlyintheU.S.,SpotifyannouncedtodayitwillmakeanewLyricsfeatureavailabletoallglobalusers,bothFreeandPremium,acrossplatforms.ThefeatureispoweredbylyricsproviderMusixmatch,andexpandsonapriordealSpotifyhadwiththecompanytoofferlyricstousersinIndia,LatinAmericaandSoutheastAsia. Lastyear,Spotifyintroducedreal-timelyricsthatsynctothemusictousersin26worldwidemarkets,afterinitiallytestingthefeaturein2019.Thiswasthefirsttime22ofthe26marketshadevergainedanyformoflyricssupport,thecompanysaidatthetime.Thatdeallaterexpandedto28markets.SpotifyusersinJapanhavealsohadaccesstolyricsthroughastandalonedealwithSyncPower. Butusersinothermarketshaveonlyhadaccessto“BehindtheLyrics,”afeaturelaunchedin2016inpartnershipwithGeniuswhichofferedlyricsinterspersedwithtriviaaboutthesong,itsmeaning,theartistandothercommentary.Meanwhile,throughSpotify’scommunityfeedbackforum,thousandsofusersovertheyearsexpressedtothecompanytheywouldpreferafeaturethatprovidedreal-timelyrics,insteadoflyricsthatareinterruptedwithfactsandotherbackgroundinformation. Thoseuserswillnowgettheirwish. SpotifyconfirmedtoTechCrunchitwillbesunsetting“BehindtheLyrics”tomakewayforthenewLyricsfeature. Lyricswillbeavailableacrossplatformsfromthe“NowPlaying”vieworbar,dependingontheplatform. Onmobile,userscanswipeupfromthe“NowPlaying”screentoseethetrack’slyricsscrollbyinrealtimeasthesongisplaying.Onthedesktopapp,youcanclickthemicrophoneiconfromthe“NowPlaying”barinstead.AndontheSpotifyTVapp,you’llnavigatetothetop-rightcornerofthe“NowPlaying”viewtoenableLyricsfromthelyricsbutton. ThecompanysaysthefeaturewillbeavailableonthebigscreenviaitsappforPlayStation4,PlayStation5,XboxOne,AndroidTV,AmazonFireTV,Samsung,Roku,LG,SkyandComcast. Thenewfeaturealsooffersbuilt-insharingfromanincludedbuttononthebottomofthescreenonmobile,whichallowsuserstoselectthelyricstheywanttoshareandthedestination. ThereisnodifferenceintheLyricsexperienceforFreeorPremiumusers,we’retold. Real-timelyricsonmusicappshavehadacomplicatedhistory.Whenlyricsaren’tprovidedbymusicpublishers,companiesturntoathird-partyprovider.Butthoseprovidersdon’talwaysplayfair.Google,forexample,wasaccusedbyGeniusin2019forplagiarizingitslyricscollection,whichGeniustrackedbycleverlyembeddingsecretcodesintoitslyricstospellout“red-handed.”ThoselyricslaterappearedinGoogle.comsearchresults.ButGooglesaidtheblamewaswithitspartner,LyricFind.Itdidn’tdropitspartnership,astherearefewalternativesformajorlyricsdeals—thecompaniestendtoworkwitheitherGenius,LyricFindorMusixmatch(oracombination). That’swhyitmadeheadlineswhenApplein2018announcedapartnershipwithGeniusforlyricsacrossthousandsofitstopsongs,andtwoyearslaterbecametheexclusivewebplayerforGenius.Amongotherservices,PandorasaysitworkswithLyricFindandAmazonworkswithbothLyricFindandMusixmatch,itswebsitestates. Withthisexpansion,LyricswillnowbeavailableinallmarketswhereSpotifyisoffered,eliminatingoneofthebigcompetitiveadvantagestheserivalshaveoverSpotify. ThecompanysaysLyricswillbeginrollingoutgloballystartingtoday.