Spotify has removed lyrics access for most free tier users, following A/B testing that began last September. This move incentivizes upgrading to Spotify Premium for full lyric functionality.
While this strategy strengthens Spotify’s revenue stream, it weakens the free tier’s appeal. Existing limitations like six skips per hour and forced shuffle create a frustratingly limited experience, pushing users towards paid subscriptions.
YouTube Music Emerges as a Strong Free Tier Contender
In contrast, YouTube Music’s free tier offers a compelling alternative. It boasts unlimited skips, integrated lyrics,skippable ads, and on-demand playback (avoiding forced shuffle). This flexibility, coupled with access to unofficial uploads (a potential advantage for some), presents a serious challenge to Spotify’s free tier dominance.
The only major drawback for YouTube Music is the restriction on background playback in the mobile app for free users.However, this is mitigated by unrestricted background playback on the web player.
With this change, Spotify risks alienating free users and potentially driving them towards YouTube Music, which offers a more user-friendly free experience. The key takeaway? Users seeking a robust free tier with lyrics and greater control might find YouTube Music a more attractive option.
