Inappropriate Podcast Suggestions

[DirtyDanASDF]

Spotify Free

USA

Hello!

I only chose to send my version and country because I didn't find the other information relevant. Other people have had similar problems on different devices and even on Spotify Premium.

Onto the issue at hand, Spotify has recommended me an inappropriate Podcast in "Shows to Try" for no good reason. I'll keep the story short. On my hardly used Google account, I created a Spotify account. My Google account didn't specify gender nor age and had little to no info about my preferences (as it was hardly used). The only info submitted was my birthday and gender when creating Spotify. Then I was required to select 3 artists in which I chose CG5, Pewdiepie, and Imagine Dragons. 

When I logged into my new account, I was instantly recommended "H#ntai with Senpai." Keep in mind, the only information they had was my gender, age, and artists. However, none of the artists I selected had anything to do with that kind of content. There is no way to censor or remove podcasts so quite a few people have had to have that kind of stuff on their home screen. Luckily after messing around, I found why it recommended this stuff. After editing my artists to country singers, it went away.

Besides the point, this is likely a bug in your recommendation system. None of the artists I selected had any relation to that kind of content and many people shouldn't be receiving this stuff in their homepage. 

To double-check, I created a new Spotify account and said I was Male and born on January 1st, 2004 (Don't worry! This info isn't actually true). I selected the same artists and reentered to see that...it was still there. Despite the fact that the system believed I just turned 13, it still recommended me this based on the gender and artists.

Normally, I'd ignore this and move on but I wished to let you know. Many people are stuck with this kind of content and due to this app being 12+, it's likely some 12 year olds are mistakenly being given this...material. I only think children are getting this stuff because the artists I chose cater to children and are mostly just Youtubers. 

Additional Info: The device I used is only a few days old and I have not watched any kind of material to encourage that recommendation.

Please look into your podcast recommendation system or at the very least, let people remove this from their home page.

All the best,

Worried User

[zeeg_ortex]

I second this.
these kinds of podcasts shouldn't be recommended on the homepages when kids use your app.

[judsonb]

I would like to add my opinion on this also... I will not allow my kids to access this platform at all because the recommendations are very inappropriate and nt at all related to the content we listen to. We are paid users that only listen to family friendly content and we still cannot seem to get the **bleep** off of the home screens. 

[Ratt]

I third this.

Same issue with me, I keep getting a podcast called "**bleep** Town" shoved down my throat every single time I log in. Why am I getting recommended **bleep** Town? What did I ever do/listen to get recommended **bleep** Town? I don't wanna see **bleep** Town  It's embarrassing as **bleep** to use this app in public when the first words I see when I open the app are **bleep** Town.

This post better not get flagged; if yall are shoving this garbage down my throat, it's safe enough to post on this thread, right?

[Akanksh12]

This has happened to me also...... I really don't want stuff like this on my home page every time i open spotify

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for your posts and feedback here in the Community.

There's an idea - [All Platforms] Customize Start Screen. We suggest that you head over to the idea, leave a +VOTE and Subscribe to the thread for any updates.

Let us know if we can help you with anything else.

Take care! 

[Mon_Capitan]

I agree, this issue should be looked into. It's very very awkward when someone asks you why you have explicit podcasts in your recommended. Their should at least be a "not interested" button for when you right click a podcast.

[Xenia]

Hello all,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to the Community - We really appreciate all your feedback on recommended content within the Spotify app.

We understand this is important to you and can assure you that your posts do not go unnoticed. With that said, we'd like to refer you to the Idea Exchange in the Community for any further feedback you might have, where you can either vote for an existing idea or submit your own.

Here are a few existing ideas we were able to find which we think are relevant:

• Block / disallow suggestions for certain content
• Add a similar option to "Don't play this" for podcasters
• Remove suggestions and provide incognito mode for pornographic content

The Idea Exchange is the best way of providing your opinion on any features you'd like to see implemented and making your voice heard. You can read more about it here.

Thanks!

[htbrown]

Hate to unearth a relatively inactive thread but I would just like to point out that this is still a problem - especially on my fairly new account.

Surely it's not ideal for Spotify to be recommending this kind of content to new accounts even if there isn't a whole lot to go off yet. It's putting me off using the platform. "Solutions" given have been denied by Spotify staff and have either been marked as "not right now" or don't have enough votes to get through. Unfortunately, judging by the amount shown as either, I don't see how creating my own entry to your suggestion system will help.

I would really appreciate some clarity on how to remove these explicit suggestions from my home page; I use Spotify for music and, currently, the first five sections on my home page are devoted to, first, podcasts which isn't what I use Spotify for and, second, content that I quite frankly don't want to see.

UK-based and a Premium account by the way, so this issue isn't just isolated to the USA or free accounts.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @htbrown,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

We understand that things can feel frustrating when things don't work as you'd like them to. Rest assured that we're always trying to improve as we always strive to improve our features.

A Not Right Now status comes after the idea has reached the correct teams and for transparency we've put that status. It's not impossible to get it in the future, but we cannot make any promises

We hope for your understanding and that you continue using Spotify and find it gets better in the future.

Once again - thanks for the feedback, we appreciate it. Let us know if we can help you with anything else. 

Take care!

[htbrown]

While I appreciate you may not have a huge amount of control over this and that a not right now status exists, your answer is not helpful for this problem. Right now, I believe Spotify's recommendations should not be pushing this kind of content to new users (and potentially minors).

[danjl_]

Spotify definitely needs to address this, just look at what I got on my "Episodes for you"

[petris24]

Not what I want to see suggested to me and my children when I have the explicit lyric filter turned on.

[filmul]

We have a central family computer in our living room for music and I am exhausted and rather angry to receive every days inappropriate proposals such "SODOMY FOR THE FIRST NIGHT ?" (besides Harry Potter !) ou "CONFIDENCIES ABOUT MASTURBATION" without having the possibility to remove them ! Really cool for our children !

Is there somewhere a consumer group who has started lawsuits against spotify on this point ?