- Spotify could be preparing to launch its own lyric translation tool, as spotted by a user on Reddit
- The company has been testing the feature for years, and will follow Apple Music if it goes ahead with the rollout
- Subscribers have been asking for it for years, but some are concerned about the accuracy of the translations
Update: we reached out to Spotify for a quote on the arrival of lyric translations. We received the following statement from a Spotify spokesperson: ‘Rosalía’s album is among the first to feature lyrics translations in 13 different languages through Spotify’s expanded MusixMatch partnership. With the integration now live in key markets like the US and Spain (as of November 7), listeners worldwide can instantly understand her lyrics, bridging the gap between her sound and global audience’.
Original story follows:
Spotify and Apple Music are in continuous competition with one another as two of the best music streaming services. After Apple launched its AutoMix function Spotify came out with its own audio-mixing tool, and now the latter could be gearing up to emulate another handy Apple Music feature – lyric translations.
According to a user on Reddit (see below), Spotify could soon be rolling out its own lyric translation feature, following Apple Music’s free update that introduced translations back in September.
Lyric Translations are rolling out in the US from r/truespotify
If Spotify does roll out the feature it’s likely that users in the US will be the first to get access (the Reddit user above is US-based). Spotify tends to release new features to limited markets initially, even if it’s at the expense of subscribers’ patience.
While this is a feature that’s been very well received by Apple Music users, there’s a question over Spotify’s ability to produce accurate results. At the moment, Spotify uses the data company MusixMatch to power its song lyrics tool, and it’s received plenty of criticism over the years for its blatantly wrong lyric readings, so the pressure is on for Spotify to deliver accurate results here.
This isn’t the first time that a lyric translations tool has cropped up on Spotify. It’s known that the company has been working on its own version of the feature for a while, going back as far as four years, when a Reddit user noticed a lyric translation button similar to the one above.
Spotify added a “Translate to English” button for non-English lyrics in some songs from r/languagelearning
Spotify later addressed the status of lyric translations on its Community forum, sharing the following back in 2023: “Lyrics translation is a feature that’s still being tested in selected countries. At Spotify, we’re always testing new improvements and features to give our users a better experience. That’s why you may have something in the app that other users don’t or vice versa, or have a feature to try temporarily.”
Spotify hasn’t provided any further insight to the status of its lyric translation feature since then. However, if I were to venture a guess, it would make sense for Spotify to wait until 2026, and roll it out once all the Spotify Wrapped craziness is behind us – although as mentioned, it’s likely that only select users will see it initially.
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