Music can play a big role in a child’s development. It has been known to have a therapeutic effect along with being a means for kids to express themselves – their tastes, interests, and individuality. All sorts of music has become easily accessible mainly due to the availability of various streaming apps like Spotify.
Easy access to music, however, also means it’s harder to filter out age-inappropriate or downright inappropriate songs. This is why as part of their digital parenting, parents look for ways to effectively keep tabs on what their kids listen to. Fortunately, streaming and music apps, like Spotify, have put parental control settings in place. Also, there are other apps or software that are perfect digital parenting tools.
What Is Spotify?
Spotify is a digital music streaming app or service providing users with access to millions of music, podcasts, and videos from artists all over the world. You can have instant access to all sorts of music, ranging from classics and old favorites to the latest hits. You can also search for specific artists, albums, and songs to listen to, and create playlists.
You can sign up for a Spotify account on their website or through their app. You have the option to sign up or create an account with your Facebook account, Google account, or email address. There are also several plans to choose from like Premium Mini, Premium Individual, Premium Duo, Premium Student, and Premium Family.
Spotify Family is a great choice especially if you are a parent and wish to have some level of control over what your child can listen to. Here are some key things to remember if you’re planning to get a Spotify Family account:
- Only works if you have the same address since you’ll need to confirm your place of residence during the sign-up process.
- Caters to up to 6 family members.
- Each family member has an individual Premium account which means they can still have their own playlists and recommendations.
- Supports Family Mix or a family playlist made up of music Spotify thinks you’ll all enjoy.
- Allows a certain level of parental control.
Spotify Parental Controls
Does Spotify have parental controls? If so, how much control does it actually allow parents? Are they effective in actually keeping inappropriate music from your kid’s ears?
Spotify Premium Family Plan
Parental controls on Spotify mainly function under the Spotify Premium Family plan. First, you’ll need to make sure your kids are part of your Family Account. To do that, simply:
- Go to the Spotify website or open the Spotify app.
- Log in to your account, or sign up for a Premium Family plan if you still do not have one.
- Tap on Account.
- Scroll down and click Premium Family.
- Tap on Add to Family Plan.
- Click Invite to Premium.
- Copy the link and send it to your family member
- Once they’ve accepted, they become part of the Spotify Premium Family plan.
Once your kids become part of the Premium Family account, you can go ahead and tweak the Spotify explicit filter. To do that, simply:
- Go to the Spotify website or open your Spotify app.
- Log in and Click Account.
- Scroll down then tap on Premium Family.
- Click the name of your kid or any family member.
- Tap on the Remove Explicit Content toggle. This will effectively gray out explicit song titles.
Take note that with this option, you can’t exactly block specific artists or tracks, only those tagged as explicit. You also can’t limit usage times.
Spotify Kids
The launching of Spotify Kids, still under the Spotify Premium Family plan, is welcomed greatly by parents. Spotify Kids is a safe place for your kids to start exploring various musical genres. All content has been handpicked especially for the enjoyment and the safety of kids. Moreover, parents can access their kid’s Spotify listening history and not only keep track of what their kids are listening to, but even block individual songs or audio stories.
Accessing Spotify Kid’s listening history is fairly straightforward. Take note that content can only be blocked if it appears in “Listening History.” Hence, if you have a specific track in mind you want to block, you need to play it first on your child’s Spotify Kids account. To check out Spotify history and stop inappropriate songs from playing on your kid’s account, simply do the following:
- Log into the “grown-ups” section of Spotify Kids.
- Tap the account, if you have multiple kids, you want to check out.
- Go ahead and tap on Listening History.
- Next, just tap on the block icon beside a track to hide it.
- Once hidden, the song will no longer be visible anywhere on your child’s app. Also, blocking a song only removes it from that specific account; you can customize each of your kids’ accounts accordingly.
- To unblock content, revisit the PIN-protected Listening History or Blocked Content and tap on the block icon again.
Keeping Kids Safe While Listening On Spotify
Spotify has done what it can to provide a safe listening environment for families and children through their Family plan. However, just like most parental controls on apps, it’s not perfect. The platform is limiting the availability of Spotify parental controls to those with certain packages.
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