Spotify rolls out karaoke-style feature that displays lyrics in real-time to 26 countries – but the US and UK will have to wait
- The feature is being tested in beta on some Android devices
- Lyrics can be swiped up and roll across the app as the song plays
- Apple previously introduced real-time lyrics in September
Spotify is officially rolling out a real-time lyrics feature to users in 26 countries across the globe.
The lyrics are displayed on the app interface in sync with the song for a kind of karaoke-style experience.
The feature was reportedly set live in those additional markets on Tuesday morning and it’s unclear when it might be expanded to more countries in the future.
Spotify has been testing a lyrics feature (pictured) that displays words to a song in real-time.
The feature will bring Spotify up to speed with its biggest competitor, Apple Music.
While this will be a first for Spotify, real-time lyrics have already been a feature of in Apple Music which rolled out its own tool in September.
Apple partnered with the music annotation company, Genius to license the lyrics. Genius has also powered Spotfiy’s ‘Behind the Music’ feature which gives insight into select songs.
As noted by TechCrunch, Spotify has lagged behind Apple on providing real-time lyrics do to the myriad licensing costs and concerns that surrounding their use.
Lyrics aren’t available on all songs and are provided through the streaming giant’s prior partner, Musicxmatch.
Over the past year, Spotify has experimented with several new features including ‘Stories’ that allow some influencers to post video and music into curated playlists.
Specifically, the feature imbues those playlists with short videos that users can optionally click on and watch more.
Users can also tap through similar to story features in other platforms like Instagram or Snapchat.
Spotify has been testing several new features throughout the past several months, including a stories feature that aims to bring in influencers
The first influencer to use the feature is a YouTube creator, Summer Mckeen, who has 2.1 million Instagram followers and produces videos on makeup and fashion.
Spotify also recently expanded a new ‘Kids’ app aimed at three- to 12-year-olds and offers access to 8,000 curated songs and stories, each of which is cleared as being devoid of anything inappropriate for children.
The new app is available on iPhone and Android but only for people with a Spotify Premium Family subscription and the company is describing it as a ‘playground of sound for young listeners’.