Genius gives Apple Music a brainy boost with new lyrics integration

By Kris Wouk Published January 11, 2021

Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you’ve ever wondered about the words to a given song, chances are fairly good that you’re at least somewhat aware of music lyrics service Genius. In a major move, Genius has partnered with Apple Music to add lyrics to the streamer’s content.

One major complaint users have had about Apple Music is that it doesn’t have any built-in support for lyrics. Now that has changed, as you’ll be able to find the lyrics to any of the “thousands of hit songs” supported by the service. That’s cool on its own, but the partnership goes further.

Recommended Videos

As part of the new working relationship, Genius has made Apple Music its player of choice for both the website and its mobile app. Now Apple Music subscribers will be able to easily play any music they find on the Genius website, simply by signing in with their Apple Music account details.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“Being able to read lyrics and annotations on Genius while you listen along on Apple Music is a dream Genius experience,” Genius chief strategy officer Ben Gross said in the blog post announcing the new integration. “We’re proud to make Apple Music our official music player, and we’re doubly excited to bring Genius lyrics to their amazing platform.”

This isn’t the first time Genius has partnered with a music subscription service. In 2016, the company partnered with Spotify to launch the Behind the Lyrics feature, which combined snippets of lyrics with the meaning behind them and explanations of background details. Earlier this year, Genius teamed up with YouTube to launch Song Stories, which combines clips from music videos and concert footage with informational snippets about the song in a Behind the Music-style format.

The difference with this new partnership is that Genius seems much more heavily invested in its partnership with Apple Music. This could be simply due to the fact that Apple Music is currently leading Spotify in the U.S., or we could see more from the two companies moving forward. Apple Music is currently available on the web version of Genius and its iOS app. Genius says it will have more to show off moving forward.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

Mobile

Apple’s new iPad Pro keyboard is a bigger deal than you think

iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard.

A fresh crop of iPads is here, and this time around, Apple pulled out all the stops. The new models feature an OLED display, new Pro apps, the thinnest chassis ever, and a next-gen M-processor that has yet to appear elsewhere save for the new iPad Pros. Starting at $999, Apple is charging quite some premium for its new slates. But what truly stood out to me was the new Magic Keyboard — and for multiple reasons.

This one has a full row of function keys and a dedicated escape button. For a device that wants to compete with a laptop, the lack of an escape key was quite a bummer, as was the lack of quick-control function keys. Heck, the Magic Keyboard for the base iPad got that perk, so it was an overdue tweak for the flagship iPadss.

Mobile

Apple made an outrageous change to its new iPads

An official photo of the 2024 iPad Air.

After a year-long drought of iPads, Apple finally revealed the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models during its Let Loose event on May 7. This was a unique announcement because it broke some old traditions; the iPad Air now comes in two sizes: an 11-inch and 13-inch, just like the iPad Pro. But these new iPads are also breaking another longtime tradition: They won’t come with iconic Apple stickers. Gasp.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple Store teams received a memo where Apple explained that the iconic Apple stickers won’t be included inside the boxes of the new iPad Air and iPad Pro. The reasoning? As part of Apple’s environmental goals, it is trying to ensure that its packaging is completely free of plastic.

Mobile

There’s something Apple isn’t telling you about the new iPad Pro

A render of the front and back of the 2024 iPad Pro.

Earlier this year, I bought a new MacBook Air. It was the entry-level 13-inch trim with an eight-core graphics engine. If my budget allowed, I would’ve loved to go with the higher-end M3 version with a 10-core GPU inside.

Spending a few hundred dollars for the higher RAM and storage configuration automatically gets you the more powerful M3 variant. Conversely, you can’t just pay more for an M3 version with a beefier GPU. If you want the best performance possible, you have to pay for the higher storage/RAM models. It’s an infuriating and darn expensive situation, but that’s how Apple rolls.