Parental controls for Spotify Premium Family are finally starting to roll out, though oddly only in Ireland for now. The company said today that other markets will get the update later in the year, without explaining the reason for the delay.
Parents will now be able to control the Explicit Content Filter setting of all other accounts on their plan (these parental controls are a long-requested feature).
The update is now available in Ireland and will roll out in all markets with Premium Family this fall …
The subscription will still offer each family member their own individual Spotify Premium accounts, with their own playlists and recommendations, but the person managing the account will be able to switch on the content filter for any of the related accounts.
Spotify is also touting the Family Mix as part of the same update, though many users have this already. Spotify frequently tests new features by rolling them out to some users.
Family Mix: Families will get exclusive access to a personalized playlist packed with songs the whole family enjoys. Family Mix is updated regularly, and you can control who is in each session to optimize your family’s favorite shared listening moments.
The company has, for example, been testing Premium Duo, a family account aimed specifically at couples without children, and which includes a Duo Mix feature.
Once you’re both signed up, you’ll get access to Duo Mix, a new auto-generated playlist similar to Spotify’s existing Discover Weekly or Daily Mix playlists. You get one playlist between you, and this is automatically created and shared when you set up the account. As you both listen to music, the plan updates with music it thinks you’ll both enjoy. There are also “Chill” and “Upbeat” options for the playlist on the mobile app to switch between songs of different tempos.
If you’d rather listen to playlists you’ve created yourself, then the plan also includes a Shared Playlists feature. This allows you to share all of your playlists with your Duo partner with one click.
Parental controls for Apple Music are handled as part of iOS Content & Privacy Restrictions:
- On the child’s phone, go to Settings
- Tap Screen Time
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions
- Slide the toggle on
- Tap Content Restrictions
- Tap Music, Podcasts, & News
- Tap Clean
You can do the same thing for books; set movie ratings (limiting access to one of U, PG, 12, or 15); allow or disallow TV shows; and set age ratings for apps. Additional parental controls are available for web access, Siri, and Games Center.
Apple and Spotify are reportedly in talks about allowing Spotify users to control music via Siri, although why those talks are necessary given that iOS 13 will already make this possible is something of a mystery.
The streaming music service says it will notify users once the parental controls for Spotify Premium Family are available in the US and elsewhere.
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