Following the strikes of different tech giants, Spotify introduced on Friday it’s introducing in-app parental controls within the type of “managed accounts” for listeners beneath the age of 13. The brand new characteristic will initially be provided as a pilot program for folks or guardians on a Household plan in choose markets, together with Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden.
As soon as enabled, mother and father can handle the account of younger listeners on their account by stopping them from watching movies, enjoying content material, and even viewing Canvas movies — the looping movies that accompany music playback — for any content material that’s labeled express. As well as, mother and father will be capable to use a brand new management characteristic to resolve if their little one can play sure artists or tracks. This enables the dad or mum or guardian to make extra granular choices about what sort of music is on the market to their little one, with out forcing their tween to make use of the extra kid-friendly, but additionally extra restrictive, Spotify Youngsters app.
The launch follows efforts from different giant tech corporations together with TikTok, Meta, Snap, and YouTube to offer mother and father extra management over how their children use their apps, and what kind of options children have entry to, pushed by rising stress from regulators to reign in Large Tech. Different streamers, like Netflix, Max, and Hulu, amongst others, additionally supply parental controls to folks.
Although Spotify just isn’t a TV and film streaming service or a completely featured social app, it does have all kinds of content material on its platform, a few of which will not be applicable for youthful listeners.
Dad and mom who as we speak share an account with their children may additionally be prompted to change to a Household plan, as every account beneath the plan may have its personal separate suggestions. Meaning mother and father’ musical tastes received’t be combined up with their tweens’, and vice versa. This can make Spotify’s end-of-year Wrapped outcomes extra correct, Spotify notes.
Entry to the brand new characteristic is on the market to folks from the Accounts web page within the app, the place they’re capable of choose the choice to “Add a listener aged under 13,” (or the market equal), then observe the directions to navigate the assorted choices.
