Spotify has placed its lyrics feature behind a paywall; only listeners who are subscribed to Spotify Premium will be able to access it, which only infuriated netizens.
According to reports, Spotify is testing out a "new strategy" by putting in place the paywall in an effort to convert free users into premium subscribers.
"At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning," a representative announced following the launch of the "new strategy."
"In keeping with our standard practices, we're currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets. We don't have any further news to share at this time."
Spotify Users Riot Following New Paywall Update
Netizens were displeased with the update, condemning Spotify, noting that it is "'ableist' against the deaf community," as well as the songwriters who "are not paid enough" by the music streaming platform.
"I'm so indifferent to this. [Apple Music] has lyrics but no free streaming. I can't imagine anyone would pay for this reason. They'll just Google the lyrics. This is such a weird thing to do but I also don't think people will care enough to pay," an X (formerly known as Twitter) user wrote.
"So they want to make people pay to read lyrics but no one wants to fairly pay songwriters to write those lyrics?! FOH. I hate it here," another added.
"It makes sense. Everyone wants more money or some need it. But you know who needs it more than Spotify? The artist."
"Bit ableist of Spotify if this is true.. didn't choose to be deaf and need lyrics to understand and enjoy music damn."
According to Music Gateway, as of May 2022, Spotify pays artists $0.003 to $0.005 per stream; artists receive 70%, while Spotify gets 30% of the revenue.
Some netizens have even decided to ditch Spotify altogether, and just switch to Apple Music, YouTube Music, or Amazon Music.
READ MORE: Spotify Reveals New Premium Plans With Hi-Fi, Audiobooks: Everything to Know About 'Supremium'
Spotify Competes Against Apple Music
According to reports, Spotify has not had an even growth of users in recent months.
Despite its best efforts, Spotify is not doing well in comparison to other music streaming platforms in the market like Apple Music, thus it is actively working to grow its paid subscribers.
