How to Fix Spotify Lyrics Not Working Issue?

Spotify introduced real-time lyrics in the United States for both free and premium users in 2021. Spotify collaborated with the provider of song lyrics, Musixmatch, to add this function to the app.

When first introduced, Spotify offered a feature that made lyrics available to all users. Recently, however, lyrics feature became exclusive to premium users, meaning free users can no longer access it.

This could explain why you’re facing difficulties getting lyrics to display. Other factors, such as unavailable lyrics for certain songs or the Spotify app being in offline mode, may also contribute to this issue.

These are common issues causing the lyrics function on the Spotify app to malfunction or not work at all:

  • Not Subscribed to Spotify Premium: You must subscribe to a premium plan to use this function.
  • Lyrics not available: While Musixmatch boasts an extensive database of lyrics, acquired through licenses and user contributions, it is not exhaustive. They are still digitising lyrics for numerous songs, hence some Spotify tracks may lack lyrics.
  • Out-dated Spotify App: If you’re using an older version of the app, it may not support this feature well. Older versions can contain known bugs or glitches that affect various features, including the lyrics display. Such issues can disrupt the lyrics synchronization, leading to incorrect display or non-visibility.
  • Corrupted Cache: Spotify temporarily stores data, like song lyrics, in your device’s cache. The app retrieves lyrics from this cache for real-time display when you play a song. However, software glitches, interrupted downloads, or storage issues can corrupt the cache data. This corruption might lead to incorrect or incomplete information being stored, causing the lyrics to malfunction or not work.
  • Spotify Servers being Down: Real-time lyric display during song playback on Spotify requires fetching lyric data from its servers. If servers are down, the app can’t retrieve this information.

If lyrics aren’t displaying on Spotify, first try restarting the app to resolve the issue. If this doesn’t work, follow these steps sequentially until the lyrics feature functions properly:

  1. Log Out of the Spotify App: Logging in and out can resolve issues with your user session and refresh your data and settings. This could help with problems causing the lyrics feature to malfunction.
  2. Update Spotify: If the lyrics feature isn’t functioning due to a software bug, updating the app should address this issue and enhance the feature’s functionality.
  3. Clear Spotify Cache: This process removes the app’s temporary data. When you subsequently play a song or use the lyrics feature, the app retrieves fresh data from Spotify’s servers. This can rectify problems associated with incorrect or outdated cached data.
  4. Re-install Spotify: To reinstall the app, delete the existing one and download a fresh copy from the app store or Spotify’s official website for PC. This step eliminates any problematic files associated with the old installation.
  5. Check Spotify Servers Availability: Check Spotify’s server availability to determine if the issue with the lyrics feature is widespread or specific to your device or account. If the servers are down, many users are likely affected. In such cases, waiting for server recovery is the only solution.

1. Log Out of the Spotify App

  1. Open the Spotify App.
  2. Click on the Profile icon and select “Log out” from the drop down menu.

2. Update Spotify

2.1 For Mobile Devices (iOS and Android):

  1. Open your device’s app store (App Store for iOS or Google Play Store for Android).
  2. Search for “Spotify” in the store’s search bar.
  3. If an update is available, you will see an “Update” button next to the Spotify app. Tap this button to update the app.

2.2 For Desktop Computers:

  1. If you use the desktop version of the Spotify app, you can check for updates by restarting the app.
  2. Go to your task bar, right click on the spotify icon and select exit.
  3. Launch the app and it will automatically check for updates while launching.

3. Clear Spotify Cache

3.1 For Mobile Devices (iOS and Android):

  1. Open the Spotify app.
  2. Go to the app’s settings.
  3. Look for the “Storage” option.
  4. You should see an option to “Clear Cache”. Tap on it to clear the cache.

3.2 For Desktop Computers (Windows and macOS):

  1. Open the Spotify app on your computer
  2. Go to the “Edit” menu (Windows) or “Spotify” menu (macOS).
  3. Select “Preferences.”
  4. Scroll down and find the “Storage” section.
  5. Click on “Clear Cache.”

4. Re-install Spotify

4.1 For Mobile Devices (iOS and Android):

  1. Locate the Spotify app on your device’s home screen or app drawer.
  2. Press and hold the app icon until it shows an “Uninstall” option.
  3. Tap “Uninstall” to remove the app.
  4. Visit the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android).
  5. Search for “Spotify” and download and install the app.

4.2 For Desktop Computers (Windows and macOS):

  1. Close the Spotify app if it’s open.
  2. Uninstall the app using your device’s uninstallation process (e.g., through Control Panel on Windows or the Applications folder on macOS).
  3. Visit the Spotify website and select the download option on the top right of your screen.
  4. Press the “Download directly from Spotify” button under Get it from Microsoft Store.
  5. Locate the exe file on your PC and open it. It will automatically start downloading and installing the necessary files.
  6. After reinstalling Spotify, log back into your account, and then try using the lyrics feature to see if it functions correctly.

5. Check Spotify Servers Availability

  1. Open your browser and search Spotify Downdetector.
  2. Open the Downdetector page for Spotify.
  3. On the page, it will show if Spotify is having issues or not.

If you are still experiencing the lyrics issue, the last thing you can do is contact Spotify support through their website by visiting the official Spotify Help Centre at https://support.spotify.com/. Here, you can explore topics regarding your issue and frequently asked questions to find answers to your issue. If you still don’t find a solution to your problem, navigate to the “Contact Us” section, which will offer a contact form and a live chat option. By using this method, you can submit your issue and inquire with Spotify’s support team directly through the website.

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