Explicit content in Spotify playlists for kids

[Tonip_nz]

Not sure if I'm putting this in the right place so apologies in advance.

My 9 year old daughter had the Spotify playlist Tween Hangs on over the weekend and I was disappointed to find that Spotify have included tracks on a playlist aimed at such a young age group with explicit lyrics.
Whilst I appreciate this might not be such a concern for all parents, is there any way I can filter out these tracks so that my kids (ages 6 and 9) can enjoy their music?
Thanks

[millerstu]

So I was looking to change the "explict" setting on the Windows 10 Desktop version of Spotify. I looked.... and looked... and looked some more but couldn't find it anywhere. I knew that I had seen it some place.  So... I finally remembered where I found it. The Spotify Android app has a setting called "Allow Explict Content" (not sure about Apple).

Spotify,

How come the desktop version does not have the "Allow Explicit Content" toggle?

[Tony24s]

Now there is a Spotify app on Sky Q (very much geared towards families), you'd think that would include the option,  but I can't find ANY settings or options ANYWHERE in there.  Very poor , Spotify!  To all others who want a single controlling account with multiple users (including specific Child users), I would suggest Deezer.

[johncats]

Deezer does have a setting for children. It is not a filter but a separate section and about the best (or worst) they can access is baa baa black sheep. The Beatles dont even make it there. Hardly a way to get your kids to explore good music safely - unless they are under three years old.

[Tony24s]

It seems to allow a reasonable amount of variety in Kids profile for me,  as per the attached screenshot. However,  you're right,  it doesn't seem to include Beatles songs - you can get to covers,  eg, by the Glee Cast, but that's not the same. It's an option,  though,  for anybody who prefers over- restriction rather than under- restriction. Unfortunately though,  you can't get a free trial of Deezer Family to see whether it suits you first - I paid my £15 for the first month,  but quickly decided it wasn't quite what I wanted, hence now looking at the Spotify discussions to see if that's a closer fit.  But having a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old in the house means that I need some minimum level of filtering that Spotify doesn't seem to give yet. 

[Brettdecal]

I'm 50 and just don't want to be sworn at while listeneing to music.

I want the option to turn it off or have it replaced with the radio version.

Unitl this is put in I will never sign up for the premium version.

You can write what ever you want in the T&C's about age but we live in the real world with kids and people who find it offensive.

There is no need for swearing in music.

[Mojito]

Yes, a toggle to allow/disallow the playing of explicit content would be great and quite simple to implement too. But there are two problems with this, first is that songs appear to be non-explicit by default, which means songs that are explicity but have never been correctly tagged will still get played and thus cause such filter to be unreliable. Second is that it's not always black and white as to what should or should not be marked as explicit.

I'd like to propose something one step further... I'd like to see song ratings, similar to movie ratings. By that, I mean different ratings based on how much swearing is in a song, what words are used, and how sexual or violent the song lyrics are. Obviously, with this addition, one would then be able to search for artists, albums, or songs containing a specific rating (or lack of a specific rating). Likewise, playlists should be able to be tagged with a specific rating and only allow songs with that rating or lower be added to it.

Before saying this is overkill, I'd have to argue that there is a huge gap in the market for this... Individuals that listen at work, in their car, or just have it playing at home while they have guests over would all fall into the targeted demographic for these features. Furthermore, you can give users the ability to set a rating/level of explicitness on whatever radio station, playlist, or album they're listening to at the time so that even if a highly explicit song is in one of their favorite playlists, it'll skip over it automatically.

As for getting the metadata/tags for the songs, you've (Spotify) already made the first step... crowdsourcing the information through things like Line-In. Get users to help build this database of information about songs. If a song doesn't have a rating, assume it's the highest level of explicit until you're able to crowdsource information on that track.

However, I'd suggest making the crowdsourcing things an integrated part of the Spotify experience... Make suggesting an edit less of a hassle and less of a hidden feature and more people will work towards building that database.

[svurf_1h-f9q]

i suggest creating your own playlist for your daughter to listen to without the explicit content.

[jmshahan2002]

Get with the program. Pandora has a button for Explicit. Why can't Spotify? Lame.

[drandika]

I'm looking for a family music service where I can block explicit content on children's devices

Deezer fails because the kid profile just gives a small range of kiddy songs not popular "clean" songs. As soon as you disable the kid profile you get everything no matter the age on the profile.

Spotify is close to what I want with this explict content filter. I can live with the fact the filtering isn`t perfect. However, the fundamental problem is that the setting is device specific and set locally. A child can therefore just turn it back on through the settings menu.This needs to be controlled through the master account. Please address this and I will subscribe to your family plan!!!

[Noah]

Hey folks,

I'd suggest taking a look at the Explicit Filter idea in the community ideas board and adding your likes and feedback there!

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy listening 🙂

[Chris · Accepted solution]

Hey folks!

We have some more info on this here. We'd recommend adding your +VOTE if you haven't already, and to keep an eye on the thread for the latest update 🙂

[rclarksworld]

I dropped Spotify and went to Apple Music months ago. They allow kids onto their service and filter appropriately. It seems that Spotify is more interested in being a social media platform than a music service. It's too bad since they are one of the few who have a Linux application.

[CL1CKS]

Last time I checked, "Tweens" aren't 6 to 9 years old.  Also as stated previously you are supposed to be at least 13 to use spotify.  So as a parent you might want to customize your playlist for your child to use or simply let them browse youtube kids.

[leshankinson]

Hi,

Spotify needs to find a way to lock the settings with a password.  Kids are able to turn off the explicit lyrics blocking option on their devices.  While parents can monitor this, it would be much safer and simpler if Spotify could just add a password or authentication app control to change at least the safety settings.  I thought Swedes were family oriented people.. if so, they should have thought about this by now.

Thanks.

[1217236317]

Of course they've thought about it, they've had meeting after meeting about
it, and decided to value profits and market share over protecting children.

If any adult spoke to a minor using the language Spotify streams to
children, they would be charged/jailed for **bleep** Offenses, Child
Endangerment, and Contributing to the Deliquency of a Minor, just to name a
few.

Not offering even the most basic gated protection, such as
password-protected explicit filters, seems to me a negligent cash-grab at
best and criminal at worst.