YouTube Music to expand lyrics integration to desktop

YouTube Music is expanding lyrics integration to its desktop version – presumably sparking off a new round of karaoke parties.

Lyrics were added to mobile in March, and the feature is one of several being introduced as Google moves to replace Google Play Music.

Australia, along with New Zealand and South Africa, will be the first to have the service shut down, in early spring.

Officially, the new feature is in “test mode” but some users around the world are already posting that they have accessed it.

So expect it to be widely available in a few weeks.

The lyrics mode interface is similar to that of the mobile, with the album cover on one side of the screen, and the lyrics queue and lyrics on the other.

Unlike in Apple Music and Spotify where the lyrics are forwarded in real-time as the song plays, YouTube Music users have to scroll down.

Not all lyrics to songs are immediately available as these come from a third-party source.

Google has so far made the transition to YouTube Music fairly seamless, including playlists, artists, albums, songs, purchased content, recommendations, and uploads.

Owners of new devices with Android 10 loaded will find YouTube Music pre-installed in place of Google Play Music

Gifted subscriptions will be converted to Google Play Store credit.

Google Play Music is switched off completely in December.