Spotify adds offline access, translations, and previews for lyrics
Spotify is rolling out three new lyrics features, helping fans to more easily follow along to the words of their favorite songs.
Spotify is doubling, or even tripling down on lyrics. It makes sense too, considering Spotify says that lyrics are viewed hundreds of millions every day. Now, the platform has introduced three new lyrics features designed to make follow along an even better experience: lyrics translations, offline lyrics, and lyric previews.
Lyric translations
Spotify’s lyric translations are now rolling out to Free and Premium users worldwide, after gradually expanding to new markets since its launch in 2022. The feature allows listeners to see translated lyrics alongside the original language, helping fans connect with songs beyond language barriers.
It’s easy to see translations too. When available on tracks, users can tap the translate icon within the lyrics view to display the translated text beneath the original lyrics. Translations appear automatically based on the listener’s device language.
For artists, this is huge. It makes music more accessible across territories and helps songs travel beyond borders, crucial in the streaming landscape where global discovery is the norm.
Offline lyrics
Spotify is also bringing lyrics offline. Premium users everywhere can now view lyrics to their favorite tracks without an internet connection. That’s ideal for users listening on the go, whether it be flights, underground commutes, or anywhere without signal.
The process is automatic. When a user downloads a song, the lyrics are saved too, ready for offline playback.
Lyric previews
The third upgrade brings seamless lyric previews to your listening. Lyric previews now appear directly beneath the album artwork or Canvas visual as the song plays on the Now Playing screen. This means users don’t need to open the full lyrics panel to follow along, showing lines in real time as the song plays.
Don’t want to see the previews? Listeners can switch the feature off anytime through the three-dot menu by selecting “Lyrics Off”.
Previews are rolling out now globally to Free and Premium users on mobile and tablet devices.
Why this matters
Spotify’s lyric updates reflect how platforms see lyrics as a key point of connection between fans and their favorite tracks. By giving fans more easy ways to follow along to lyrics, Spotify is hoping to level up its streaming experience for listeners. Plus, it also makes Spotify more competitive as a streaming platform, given that Apple Music recently rolled out lyric translation and offline lyric features of their own.
In short, Spotify is turning lyrics into an even bigger part of the streaming experience. And for artists, that means more opportunities for fans to connect more deeply to your music around the globe.