YouTube Music has started adding lyrics — a previously free feature introduced in 2020 – behind a paywall, according to many users and 9to5Google. In the latest update, the “Lyrics” tab on the Now Playing screen displays a warning message: “You have (x) views left. Unlock lyrics with Premium.” Free users get lyrics for five songs, then after that, only see a few lines before the rest of the song is blurred.

Google has been testing the feature since at least September with a limited number of users, according to previous reports. There it is avidly that YouTube may be making the change to recoup costs incurred by lyric aggregators like Musixmatch. Spotify also puts lyrics behind its Premium paywall in 2024but a user backlash forced it return the share for free users.

Google has yet to confirm the change, and although this is a bigger rollout, the feature change may still be in testing. YouTube Music’s Premium subscription costs $10.99 in the US with ad-free playback, offline downloads, AI features and more — the same as its main rivals Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.