Google has started a significant update to YouTube Music to show real-time lyrics on mobile devices. This feature is being rolled out in phases, so it may take time before everyone receives the update. Now, you can sing along to any of your favorite songs without worrying about missing a beat.
This feature needed to be added to YouTube Music for a long time. Apple Music has had real-time lyrics for years, unlike other popular music streaming services like Spotify. With the latest update, YouTube Music now has real-time lyrics. This is a welcome feature, as many users have been requesting it for years. It can be helpful if you want to learn the lyrics, especially for a new song, or want to sing along.
This comes free with YouTube Music, and YouTube has one of the biggest libraries of songs, so it is a great addition. In the past, YouTube had lyrics that were not synced with the song you were playing. YouTube Music only offered static lyrics, meaning users had to scroll alone. This has been resolved with the real-time lyrics feature.
YouTube Music is finally catching up to the competition. Still, new features have already been added to its competitors, like a karaoke mode that allows Apple Music Sing users to sing along to a song with adjustable vocals and real-time lyrics. Spotify has also been working on a short-form music feature for TikTok and Instagram Reels.
How to Use Real-Time Lyrics on YouTube Music
You don’t need to enable anything; this feature will be enabled by default. Just ensure you have updated your YouTube Music to the latest version. To access YouTube Music lyrics, head over to the music you want to play and tap the Lyrics button at the bottom of the screen. After tapping the lyrics icon, the app will show you the music lyrics in real time.
- Open YouTube Music and play any song.
- Tap on the lyrics button that appears at the bottom of the screen.
- Now, the lyrics will appear on the screen in real time.
Note: Not every song has lyrics. Only a limited number of songs have this functionality. This is familiar; Spotify and Apple Music also don’t have lyrics for some songs.
The lyrics will be highlighted in a white line, and the text size and line spacing within the lyrics tab will increase. The background color changes depending on the music cover style, so it will be easier to follow the lyrics. Like other famous streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music, lyrics scroll automatically, making it easier to follow along with a song, especially if you are listening to it for the first time or are unfamiliar with the lyrics. This also works with previously uploaded songs and will continue to evolve with future uploads. Some users also reported a background blur effect on the lyrics page on iOS devices, which could also come to Android later when Google starts rolling out this update widely.
Google partnered with MusixMatch, providing lyrics to streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Instagram. The same company has partnered with Google to integrate real-time lyrics into YouTube Music. Some reports also suggest that Google has partnered with LyricFind to power real-time lyrics on its YouTube app. Currently, it’s only available on Android and iOS. Still, it will likely expand to Google and Android TV, allowing even more people to enjoy this feature in the coming weeks. As reported, YouTube Music tested real-time lyrics on Cast Players in December.
There are several benefits to having real-time lyrics, as it makes it easier to sing along to your favorite song, helps you learn the lyrics of a new song, allows people to understand the meaning of songs with lyrics, and makes interaction with music more fun. The company is also working on adding support for other languages. It could allow artists to create custom lyric sheets in the future.
There are various reasons why users want to use YouTube Music over other music streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music. YouTube Music has a comprehensive library, especially regarding remixes and cover versions. While Spotify and Apple Music don’t have these in their favor, Google is also improving by making the songs available for offline use and adding song credits for users to make it easier to know the artists.
YouTube Music still needs some features to compete against other music streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music. Hopefully, Google will continue to invest in this service and bring more attractive options to overcome some of the significant shortcomings in the future. This feature is based on individual accounts. Even if you update your YouTube Music to the latest version, you might not see the updated YouTube Music yet until Google rolls it out in a server-side update. This feature has yet to be available on a desktop or web player. Still, this feature should be coming to the web player after the company makes it stable on mobile apps, as YouTube confirms that it is currently being actively developed.