YouTube Music tests live lyrics with newer Casting UI

Abner Li | Dec 23 2022 - 3:01 pm PT

As previously hinted, YouTube Music is getting live lyrics as part of a tweaked Casting UI that some users have already received.

When Casting YouTube Music from an Android phone to a Chromecast Ultra, one Reddit user today is seeing a new UI. Instead of album artwork, song name, and artist being centered on the screen, they’re now off to the right with left-aligned text. This makes way for live lyrics that scroll with the current verse highlighted in white. The background remains a blurred version of the artwork.

As the song ends, you get a “list of credited songwriters.” U/PmMeYourChromebook also notes how the old centered UI reappears when lyrics aren’t available.

Live lyrics when Casting YouTube Music are not widely rolled out today. We initiated Cast sessions to a second-generation Chromecast and the Chromecast with Google TV to no avail.

Back in October, YouTube Music told users to expect “even more Lyric features in the future” following a partnership with MusixMatch that increased coverage. Google said there was a “positive impact on lyrics consumption rates since launching.” Earlier this month, YouTube polled free users about what features they want and offered “improvements to lyrics” as a choice.

This would also be a nice feature on the Nest Hub and other Smart Displays, which is something that Google Play Music offered in late 2018, and something Spotify picked up this year, which uses the same lyrics backend.

Compared to Spotify and Apple, the lyrics available in YouTube Music’s Now Playing screen are static and don’t get highlighted as a track plays. It will presumably also come to mobile, but it’s unclear whether Now Playing will get a redesign to more prominently emphasize lyrics, or if customers still have to open the middle tab first. The UI was just revamped on Android to hide the dislike button and introduce left-aligned text, which is now a trend.