In another attempt to drive more users to its premium subscription service, Spotify has begun restricting access to lyrics in its free tier.
Spotify hasn’t made an official announcement, but the company confirmed that: tech crunch Its functionality may change over time, across markets, and across devices. The reaction suggests this change may be more than just a limited test, but Spotify has yet to confirm the specific regions or users that will be affected.
Spotify confirmed to the press that reddit Feedback from a frustrated user who encountered a message stating that there was a limit to the number of lyrics that could be displayed.
The move by Spotify follows previous indications that the company was testing lyric limits for free users. Last fall, some users encountered restrictions when trying to access lyrics, prompting a message to “Enjoy lyrics with Spotify Premium” directing them to a premium subscription service for full access. Ta.spotify Confirmed to The Verge In September, the company announced that it was testing this feature.
“At Spotify, we run a large number of tests on a regular basis, some of which ultimately pave the way for broader user experiences, while others serve only as important learnings. there is.” C.J. stanleySpotify’s co-head of global communications was quoted by the same news agency at the time.
Initially described as a test, Spotify has since moved away from this terminology, hinting at a more permanent implementation.
Spotify lacks clarity about the rationale behind its paywall; tech crunch speculates that this is a strategic move to drive more users to the paid tier. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Spotify added the following Ten million Number of internet subscribers increases 15% Compared to the previous year, last year 236 a million Users who are paying.
However, the effectiveness of Spotify’s paid lyrics strategy remains uncertain, as lyrics are readily available through alternative platforms and services such as Genius, Apple’s Shazam, and Musixmatch, reducing the value of Spotify’s premium service.
Spotify began rolling out interactive lyrics to free and premium users globally in November 2021, more than a year after launching Real-Time Lyrics on Spotify in 26 markets.
In addition to testing restrictions on lyrics, Spotify has considered a number of other ways to convert free users into premium members. 15 hours Get a free selection of audiobook content each month 150,000 Some features are limited in India, such as manually ordering songs and using features such as rewind and repeat songs.
In less than a month, Spotify’s co-founder and CEO Daniel Ex He hinted at the company’s plans to launch audiobook-only and music-only subscription tiers.
“We want to provide as much flexibility as possible in the next phase of Spotify, as we want to appeal to an even wider consumer base and look to one of our subscription services. Because we have reached the scale that we want to reach,” Ek said.
“So obviously you’re going to see an audiobooks-only tier, for example. You should expect to see a music-only tier as well.”
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https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-quietly-locks-lyrics-behind-paywall-in-bid-to-convert-free-users-to-paying-subs-report/