Spotify Kids has managed to thread the needle of putting the power back in the hands of parents while giving their children extra freedom. That’s because the app is now allowing parents to share playlists with their children.
But what exactly does that mean for you and your family?
Check out this short introduction video about Spotify Kids:
Spotify Kids Introduces Shared Playlists
All of the children’s content on Spotify Kids has traditionally been approved by Spotify moderators. Children couldn’t browse beyond the material chosen by those gatekeepers. But with Shared Playlists, parents can expand their musical universes.
Now they can share their favorite music with their children and pick child-friendly music that Spotify may have overlooked. This gives parents a chance to share the music they loved growing up or music they listen to together as a family.
Parents can access the Shared Playlist section by entering a PIN-protected area within the app. If they add any songs that contain explicit content, an ‘E’ will show up next to the song. When they first try to share a playlist, a pop-up box will ask them to confirm their decision.
Spotify said part of their motivation for these changes was to help parents “reclaim their own Spotify libraries and all the personalization they love.”
That means Spotify will start recommending music they actually love, instead of whatever music it might recommend for someone who’s just listened to ‘Baby Shark’ 15 times in a row.
Shared Playlists is the latest of several changes Spotify Kids has enacted.
These Are Just the Latest of Several New Parental Control Features
Since its inception in October 2019, Spotify Kids has added several wrinkles that allow parents to play a bigger role in their children’s listening experience.
In May 2020, the app added a feature that allows parents to view the listening history on the app. Once they access the ‘Grown Ups’ section, parents can view all of the tracks that were played on the app in the past six months.
At the same time, Spotify Kids allowed parents to block and unblock content within the same section. These new settings should help Spotify become a welcome place for young people and their families.
As with any accounts, make sure you secure it with a strong password as hackers have breached Spotify accounts in the past.
Featured image by Spotify.