How to Add Lyrics on Spotify: What You Need to Know
Spotify has built lyrics display directly into its app, making it easy to follow along with songs in real time. But the feature works differently depending on your device, account type, and region — and not every track has lyrics available. Here's a clear breakdown of how it all works.
What the Lyrics Feature Actually Does
Spotify's lyrics feature displays synced, scrolling text that follows the song as it plays — similar to a karaoke-style experience. The lyrics are sourced through a partnership with Musixmatch, a lyrics database that licenses content from publishers and labels.
Importantly, Spotify doesn't let users upload or add their own lyrics to tracks. The lyrics you see are populated automatically from Musixmatch's catalog. If a song doesn't show lyrics, it either hasn't been licensed for display, hasn't been indexed yet, or isn't available in your region.
This distinction matters: you're not manually adding lyrics to Spotify — you're accessing lyrics that are already attached to a track behind the scenes.
How to View Lyrics on Spotify
The steps vary slightly by platform, but the general flow is consistent.
On Mobile (iOS and Android)
- Open Spotify and play any song.
- Tap the Now Playing bar at the bottom to open the full player.
- Swipe up on the album art, or tap the lyrics icon (it looks like quotation marks or a microphone, depending on your app version).
- If lyrics are available, they'll appear as scrolling, highlighted text synced to the music.
On Desktop (Windows and macOS)
- Play a track in the Spotify desktop app.
- Look for the microphone icon in the bottom right of the player controls.
- Click it to open the lyrics panel on the right side of the screen.
- If the icon doesn't appear, lyrics aren't available for that specific track.
On Smart TVs and Consoles
Lyrics support on TV apps and gaming consoles (PlayStation, Xbox, etc.) is more limited. Some platforms have added lyrics display, but availability is inconsistent and tends to lag behind mobile and desktop versions.
Does Spotify Premium Affect Lyrics Access?
This is a common question. Lyrics are available to both Free and Premium Spotify users, so you don't need a paid subscription to see them. However, Free users may experience interruptions from ads that break the listening flow — which can disrupt the synced lyrics experience even if the feature itself is unlocked.
Why Lyrics Might Not Be Showing 🎵
Several factors can prevent lyrics from appearing:
| Reason | What's Happening |
|---|---|
| Song not in Musixmatch database | Lyrics simply haven't been licensed or indexed |
| Regional restrictions | Lyrics licensing varies by country |
| Older app version | The feature was rolled out gradually; older versions may lack it |
| Podcast or non-music content | Lyrics only apply to music tracks |
| Local files | Songs imported from your own library won't have lyrics |
If lyrics are missing for a track you'd expect to have them, the most reliable fix is making sure your Spotify app is updated to the latest version.
Can You Submit or Correct Lyrics?
Spotify itself doesn't have a direct submission tool for users to add or edit lyrics. However, Musixmatch — the third-party provider — does allow registered users to contribute and correct lyrics through its own platform. If a song's lyrics are wrong or missing on Spotify, the correction pathway runs through Musixmatch's community editing system, not through Spotify directly.
This means the process involves:
- Creating or logging into a Musixmatch account
- Finding the track on Musixmatch's platform
- Submitting corrections or additions through their editor
- Waiting for the changes to be reviewed and approved
There's no guaranteed timeline for when approved changes appear on Spotify, since syncing between Musixmatch and Spotify isn't instant.
Variables That Affect Your Experience
How smoothly the lyrics feature works for you depends on several factors worth knowing:
Device and OS version — Older phones running older operating system versions may not render the lyrics panel correctly, especially if the app itself can't update past a certain version.
App update cadence — Spotify rolls out features gradually. If you don't have auto-updates enabled, you might be running a version that predates a lyrics improvement.
Music catalog — Mainstream, widely-licensed music from major labels tends to have comprehensive lyrics coverage. Independent releases, niche genres, or tracks with complex rights situations are more likely to show gaps. 🎶
Region — Licensing agreements differ across countries. A track with synced lyrics in the US may not show lyrics in another market.
Language — Lyrics coverage is strongest for English-language content. Non-English tracks, particularly in less commercially dominant languages, may have incomplete or missing lyrics even when the song is popular.
The Gap That Matters
Understanding how the system works is one thing — but whether lyrics show up reliably for your music taste, on your device, in your region is a different question entirely. A listener who mostly streams Top 40 hits on an updated iPhone will have a fundamentally different experience than someone who streams underground hip-hop, regional folk music, or independent releases on an older Android device.
The feature itself is straightforward. What varies is everything around it — and those variables are entirely specific to your own library and setup.