YouTube is rolling out an AI-powered playlist generator called “AI Playlist,” available exclusively to Premium subscribers. To access AI Playlist, users open the YouTube Music app, navigate to the Library tab, tap the “New” button, and select “AI Playlist.” Once that is done, users can enter text or voice prompts — such as “90s classic hits,” “raging death metal,” or “chill party progressive house mix”—and receive algorithmically curated playlists. The feature mirrors similar tools introduced by Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer. The feature is currently available only to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscribers.
YouTube Premium and @YouTubeMusic Premium users can now instantly turn an idea, mood or genre into a personalized playlist using our new AI playlist feature 🎧
Here's how to use it:
1. On Android & iOS, tap the “New” button in the Library tab of YouTube Music
2. Select “AI… pic.twitter.com/YR1GVCqwvu— Updates From YouTube (@UpdatesFromYT) February 9, 2026
In addition to this, YouTube Music has begun restricting access to song lyrics for free users in its mobile app, requiring a Premium or Music Premium subscription to view full lyrics after a handful of free “views.” The change, which has been rolling out gradually and is now more widely visible, marks the latest move by Google to encourage upgrades from its ad-supported tier.
Free users now receive a limited number of lyrics views, reportedly around five, before the feature displays only the opening lines, with the rest blurred and a prompt to subscribe. YouTube Music Premium costs $10.99 per month (or $11 in some markets), while the full YouTube Premium bundle, which includes ad-free video playback across the platform, is $13.99 per month in the US. The lyrics displayed in YouTube Music are sourced from third-party providers such as LyricFind and Musixmatch, as well as user contributions. With this in mind, it is possible that Google may be seeking to offset licensing or operational costs that were previously absorbed as part of the free offering, although this is speculation for now, since Google is yet to formally confirm the development.
For its part, YouTube Music operates in a fiercely competitive streaming landscape where differentiation is increasingly difficult. Spotify remains the market leader in paid subscribers, while Apple Music benefits from tight integration with iOS devices. YouTube Music’s strengths lie in its massive video catalog, music-discovery algorithms, and the ability to offer music and video in a single subscription. Still, this is yet another basic feature being pulled from the ad-supported experience, and could mean that the free version of YouTube Music is becoming noticeably less useful over time. In addition to this, users often use YouTube Music precisely because lyrics are right there in the app. Having to switch to a browser tab or another service (Genius, Musixmatch, Google search) adds unnecessary steps and is not pocket-friendly.
To recap, Lyrics were first added to YouTube Music in 2020 as a free feature, timed to coincide with the growing competition from Spotify and Apple Music, both of which offer synchronized, time-synced lyrics to their paying subscribers. Spotify briefly tested hiding lyrics behind its Premium paywall in 2023 but quickly reversed course after significant user backlash. Apple Music continues to provide lyrics as part of its standard subscription. This development is not an isolated one, and comes at a time when the popular video-sharing platform has amped up its efforts to make its Premium subscription more attractive in recent months. The company now reports 325 million paid subscribers across YouTube Premium, YouTube Music Premium, and Google One.
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