Spotify faced backlash after quietly restricting free users to only three lyric views per month in May. In response to widespread criticism, the music streaming giant is now significantly increasing the lyric limit for free tiers.
While Spotify declined to specify the new limit, it confirmed the change will roll out globally in the coming weeks. The company attributed the original move to testing and iterating on features.
The lyrics paywall experiment, initiated in September 2023, aimed to encourage free users to upgrade to premium subscriptions. However, the company’s decision to reverse course suggests the strategy had a limited impact on subscriber growth.
Spotify currently boasts 626 million monthly active users, with 246 million paying subscribers.