iOS and Android users can now search for a song on Spotify just by typing the lyrics into the search bar. Previously, Spotify listeners could only search by song title, artist, or album when it came to looking for the music they wanted to hear. As a result, this latest addition not only increases the number of search options, but also makes it easier when the artist and song name are unknown.

Spotify has both a free tier, with ads and a limited number of times a user can skip songs, and a Spotify Premium option, which is ad-free and costs $9.99 a month. Spotify also offers a $4.99 payment option for students and a $14.99 family plan. Various artists are available on Spotify, including current favorites like Post Malone and Ariana Grande, along with music going as far back as the 1920s. This is in addition to audio and video podcasts, as well as the option to curate personal playlists or listen to ones that Spotify creates, based on music the user listens to. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Spotify also has a COVID-19 Guide tab available, and a remote group listening feature came out in July, so people can listen to music with their friends while staying at home.

Related: Spotify Group Listening: How To Start & Control Family Sessions

According to @LinaFab, who works for the Spotify design team, users can now type in lyrics to search for a song. It’s very simple to use: just type in the lyrics to a song in the search bar on the app or web version, and the song will pop up first beneath the search tab, with “Lyrics match” underneath the song title and artist name. Just like when listeners search for a song by song title, artist or album, they can swipe left to queue a song or swipe right to add the song to their Liked Songs playlist. The lyrics can come from any point in the song and don’t have to include the title of the song. For example, if searching for the lyrics to 'Don’t Stop Believing' by Journey, typing in, “just a small town girl” and “living just to find emotion” will both bring up the song. Playlists that the song is on, whether created by Spotify or another user, will also show up when a user searches by lyrics.

What This Means For Spotify

Spotify phone and tablet

Apple Music has allowed its listeners to search by lyrics since 2018 and it works in a similar way -- users just type the lyrics they’re looking for into the search bar, and suggestions for songs will pop up beneath the search bar. Both Spotify and Apple Music offer the student and family plans, and Apple Music has a $9.99 tier which allows access to 70 million songs. However, what Spotify has that Apple Music doesn’t is a free option. Even though the search by lyrics feature is also available on Apple Music, and has been for two years now, as Spotify's version also works for free customers, it might help to push Spotify in the race to be the music streaming service of choice.

This new feature comes on the heels of an update to Spotify’s Collaborative Playlist feature, which the service refreshed in September, allowing listeners to build a playlist with friends and family. In addition to other recent updates and new features, like the group listening feature, Spotify seems to be making an effort to make life easier for people as they continue to remain at home, due to coronavirus restrictions. The pandemic has made a big impact on music streaming, according to Spotify, who saw a 31-percent percent increase in monthly active users and subscribers, as reported in its Q1 2020 financial report. Therefore, making the Spotify app easier to use, while also improving or introducing features that make long-distance music-sharing easier, is a smart business move.

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Source: @LinaFab / Twitter