Usually, the album artwork, song name, and artist are the ones being centered on the screen when YouTube Music is casted on a Smart TV. But through the new Casting UI, the application will be making way for live lyrics that scroll with the current verse.

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ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 23: The YouTube and Netflix app logos are seen on a television screen on March 23, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan passed a new law on March 22 extending the reach of the country's radio and TV censor to the internet. The new law will allow RTUK, the states media watchdog, to monitor online broadcasts and block content of social media sites and streaming services including Netflix and YouTube. 

Live Lyrics on YouTube Music

YouTube Music will be getting live lyrics in a new Casting UI. Based on a report from 9To5Google, the streaming platform rolled out tests for some users to experience the newest update. 

The album artwork, song name, and artist name are now off to the right with left-aligned text to make way for live lyrics that scroll with the current verse, highlighted in white. When lyrics are not available on the platform, the old-centered UI will reappear. 

As for the background, a blurred version of the artwork still remains. Users will also be getting a "list of credited songwriters" when the song ends, which is very similar to the closing credits in a movie. 

(Photo : U/PmMeYourChromebook)

A Reddit user named U/PmMeYourChromebook shared a photo of how the new Casting UI looks when casting YouTube Music from an Android phone to a Chromecast Ultra. OP described the new UI as very reminiscent of Apple Music's own live lyrics.

Rolling Out the Feature

The new Casting UI is not a surprise to many as YouTube Music teased back in October that they will be adding more Lyric features in the future, during the reveal of the MusixMatch partnership. Google stated, "there was a positive impact on lyrics consumption rates since launching."

This feature is not yet widely rolled out today as 9To5Google's team initiated Cast sessions to several devices like second-generation Chromecast and Chromecast with Google TV, but it appears that the Live Lyrics are not yet available.

Other Streaming Platforms

Aside from Chromecast Ultra, this feature would also be good on the Nest Hub and other Smart Displays. Google Play Music offered this feature in late 2018 while Spotify revealed that they will also release it this year. 

YouTube Music's Now Playing screen is only static with no highlighted lyrics compared to Spotify and Apple Music. It remains unclear if the Now Playing in mobile will get a redesign to emphasize the lyrics just like the new Casting UI.

Also Read: YouTube Music Adds New Feature Called 'Replay Mix' Designed for Your Most Played Songs

A few weeks ago, Google added support for Google Cast devices in the audio output switcher through Android 13 Quarterly Platform Release 1 (QPR1). YouTube Music will be the first application to support this feature. 

For users to have this feature, application developers for media playing and streaming applications must implement the feature first to support the new audio output switcher with Cast compatibility. Through this, users do not have to unlock their phones and open the media playing app to switch audio to another device. 

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