Kids these days. With all the virtual learning they’ve been doing, they’re becoming so computer- and internet-savvy. My 8-year-old asked me to set up a Spotify account for him so he could listen to music while he reads at school. But is it appropriate for a kid to freely listen to Spotify?

At first I thought it was a great idea. I’ll add him as a user in our premium Spotify family account and set up an explicit filter. But then I realized this isn’t quite enough.

Here are 3 reasons why you shouldn’t let your kid use Spotify

First, even with an explicit content filter on, Spotify still shows songs and their titles although it doesn’t play them. The problem with this is some explicit songs contain bad words (like the F-word!) in the titles which my 8-year-old can read.

Second, When a kid tries to play an explicit song Spotify tells them how to remove the filter and play it. 🙄

Finally, Spotify doesn’t filter out all bad words. The word A** is said repeatedly throughout the song “Be Like That” by Kane Brown, yet my 8-year-old can still play it on Spotify. This is because Spotify’s explicit content filter only blocks songs from playing if the song’s creators told Spotify that it’s explicit. Apparently Mr. Brown didn’t tell Spotify this song has a bad word in it so the song is not labeled as explicit. It’s not like Spotify has an actively listening editor that bleeps out bad words for kids.

So as a mom, I say no you probably shouldn’t let your kid listen to Spotify on his own even with an explicit content filter enabled. Spotify Kids App is probably a better choice, but it’s only available with a Premium Spotify membership.

So the next question is: What are some kid-friendly options for streaming music? Do you have an answer? Let us know!

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