Other Technology | August 30, 2023
Spotify remains the most popular alternative for listening to music online, but it’s not the only one by any means. There are many alternatives, each with a different advantage; in fact, you might already have an account with one of them without realizing it.
We’re talking about YouTube Music, a service that comes included with a YouTube Premium subscription and that many people don’t know exists. And it’s a shame, because it’s probably one of the most powerful Spotify competitors in terms of available song selection and features.
This is particularly true because Google has been rolling out new features in YouTube Music for months. It’s a much more competent and user-friendly app following a recent interface revamp, and now it’s getting one of Spotify’s flagship features.
We’re talking about real-time song lyrics in YouTube Music. Although the app already provided access to song lyrics, it was merely a text box that we could read while listening to the song. In that sense, it wasn’t much different from searching for the lyrics online, although it did save us that trouble.
With the new functionality, which is rolling out to all users starting this week, the lyrics will automatically follow the music, pausing at each verse as it’s sung in the song. This feature is synchronized with the singer’s voice, so we can read what they’re singing at all times.
This is one of the best features for enjoying our music—reading the lyrics while the song plays. It also works for singing along, almost like karaoke.
The new feature has arrived with version 6.15 of the YouTube Music app for both Android and iOS. To use it, you simply need to start playing a song, and in the song’s view, tap the “Lyrics” button at the bottom. Keep in mind that not all songs have this feature, and in some, the lyrics will simply appear without any effects. the most popular songs seem to be given priority, although they’ve also been seen in lesser-known songs.
