Spotify started testing in September last year restrict access to song lyrics, so they were only available for premium accounts, i.e. paid. At the time, the restriction only affected a small number of users of free accounts, and when asked about the measure, Spotify did not directly confirm the move, but said that they usually conduct tests of all kinds on a regular basis.

From then, of course, the exciting wait began, as the platform could at any time revert the restriction to a few affected users, or of course, decide that the test was successful and then apply the restriction to all free accounts. And we had to wait until last May to unfortunately confirm that the accepted option was the second one. Of course, this was not a “complete” restriction, since then these users began to be offered the opportunity to see three lyrics per month.

The function of viewing the lyrics of the songs you are listening to is a feature highly valued by a large number of users, which Spotify should have understood would translate into a great conversion rate from free to premium accounts. However, as expected, the move caused a lot of pushback among users who were deprived of a feature that has historically always been part of the design of free accounts.

However, it seems the plans didn’t work out as planned and as a result, as we read in Engadget, Spotify has returned the lyrics feature to free accounts. And that’s not all, as we see in the same publication, the company’s CEO Daniel Ek recently stated that they are working on several plans to improve the user experience provided by free accounts, with improvements to come in the coming years. .

As for that future commitment, unfortunately I’ve learned not to trust Spotify’s announcements of things to come later. However, the fact that the reversal of this controversial change occurred a few days after the said announcement invites me, although I fear I am not wrong, to be optimistic about future expectations for free accounts.

It’s completely understandable, and I’ve said it on other occasions, that Spotify wants to improve the conversion rate from free to premium accounts, but the virtuous way to do that is to make those accounts more attractive, not to limit what they offer. . With this movement, they seem to have connected with this approach and of course It seems like a success and something to celebrate.