YouTube Music has rolled out a significant policy change that affects how users access song lyrics. If you are a free user, you now face strict limitations that may impact your listening experience.
YouTube Music now limits free users to viewing complete lyrics for only five songs before access becomes restricted. After hitting this limit, you’ll see a counter on your Now Playing screen displaying messages like “You have 3 views remaining.” Once you’ve exhausted your five lyric views, only the first few lines of songs will display fully while the rest becomes unscrollable and blurred. This global policy, confirmed in early February 2026, represents a major shift from the previously unrestricted lyrics access that free users enjoyed.
The implementation is straightforward but frustrating: when you open the lyrics tab on the Now Playing screen, the lyrics sync in real-time and scroll automatically with supported tracks. For your first five songs, everything works perfectly. But after that, you’ll encounter a prompt to “Unlock lyrics with Premium,” and the majority of each song’s lyrics will be obscured. Reports vary on when this counter resets—some suggest daily, others weekly—but the restriction remains a constant barrier to the full experience.
If you value lyrics access, you essentially have three paths forward:
Option 1: Stay Free with Limitations – You can continue using YouTube Music without paying, but you will need to be strategic about when you use your five lyric views. Save them for songs where you genuinely need to read the lyrics, rather than casually browsing words for every track. This requires discipline and planning.
Option 2: Subscribe to YouTube Music Premium – At $10.99 per month for individuals in the US, this unlocks unlimited lyrics access along with ad-free playback, offline downloads, and AI features like Ask Music. There’s also a Student plan at $5.49 (requires annual verification), a Family plan at $16.99 for up to 6 accounts, and an Annual Individual plan at $109.99 that saves you 15%. Premium subscribers bypass all lyric restrictions completely.
Option 3: Consider YouTube Premium Bundle – For $13.99 per month, you get YouTube Music Premium plus ad-free video watching, 1080p Premium quality, and cross-device playback continuity. Family and student variants are also available. If you already watch YouTube videos regularly, this bundle offers better overall value.
The key question is: how important are lyrics to your music experience? If you’re someone who enjoys singing along, learning new songs, or understanding foreign language tracks, the restriction will likely feel frustrating quickly. On the other hand, if you rarely check lyrics, the five-view limit might not impact you at all.
For budget-conscious users, the change feels like a “cash grab” similar to Spotify’s controversial decisions. Many users on Reddit have expressed concerns about being pushed toward subscriptions when lyrics were previously free. If you’re in this camp and cannot afford or don’t want to pay for a subscription, you’ll need to adapt your listening habits.
If you’re staying on the free tier, here’s how to maximize your limited lyric access:
- Be selective: Only use lyric views for songs where you truly need to read along or understand the words
- Use external resources: Third-party lyrics sites like Genius remain free and unrestricted
- Track your usage: Pay attention to how many views you have remaining to avoid surprises
- Time your resets: If the counter resets daily, plan to check lyrics at consistent times to maximize availability
For those considering Premium, evaluate whether the additional benefits beyond lyrics—ad-free listening, offline downloads, and Ask Music AI features—justify the cost for your usage patterns.
YouTube Music’s lyrics restriction represents a clear shift toward treating lyrics as premium content rather than a basic feature. The technical implementation through partnerships with Musixmatch and LyricFind ensures accurate, real-time syncing, but now this quality experience comes at a price for unlimited access.
Whether you choose to pay, adapt, or look elsewhere depends on your priorities and budget. The policy is unlikely to change based on user feedback alone, so understanding your options and making an informed choice is your best path forward. Remember that pricing varies by country—users in India and other regions may see different rates, often lower than US pricing, with all plans offering 1-month free trials.
Ultimately, this change highlights the ongoing trend of music streaming services monetizing features that were once free. Knowing exactly what you’re getting (or losing) helps you decide whether YouTube Music still fits your needs or if it’s time to explore alternatives.