Is Spotify Safe? A Spotify App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

Spotify was once thought to be a safe platform for kids, but recent reports tell a different story. People have started to upload pornographic content to Spotify, in the form of “audio porn” — which can be anything from erotic storytelling to sexual sounds and narrating — as well as sexually explicit cover art. Though all of this is supposed to be against Spotify’s terms of service, an alarming amount of this content is currently available to anyone with an account. What’s worse is that kids could come across this accidentally, if they happen to type the right thing into the search bar. For example, just typing a period or a comma could turn up highly inappropriate audio and visuals.

Spotify does have an explicit content filer available in settings which — when toggled off — will not play anything labeled “E” for explicit. Fortunately, this will block most harmful content including drugs/alcohol, violence, and profanity. However, much of the pornographic content described above is not labeled “E”, rendering the filter pretty useless in keeping your kids from watching or viewing it.

Predation 🚨

There have been instances of people using Spotify playlists to communicate with each other — it doesn’t happen often but it’s possible. How it works is a user will type a message in the description of a playlist and then add songs to the playlist, using the titles to convey a message. And since these playlists can be collaborative, it allows for two people — or more — to have a full-on conversation without even sending a real text.

Luckily, there’s no actual messaging or chat feature on Spotify. So playlists are really the only way for communication to take place.

Privacy 🔒

If your child uses their real name as their username, strangers may be able to look up their profile and public playlists. You can toggle this feature off for each individual playlist, if you’re concerned about it.

In their account settings, you can also toggle off publicly showing any of their recently played artists. Just keep in mind that they can turn these back on.

Parental Controls ✅

Premium Family accounts have access to Spotify Kids, which provides a child-friendly experience with no access to potentially worrisome content. For older kids using the regular version of the app, you can disable playback of explicit content. Keep in mind, though, that they can always turn it back on at any time, and your family’s values may not align exactly with Spotify’s filters. For more information on Spotify parental controls, you can check out our Spotify tech guide.

Bark also provides support for families who use Spotify. We’re here to help you keep your kid safe by allowing you to:

• Block Spotify entirely, if needed.
• Manage when your child can use Spotify throughout the day.
• Monitor song lyrics for issues like profanity, drug/alcohol mentions, violence, sexual content, and more. (Android and iOS).

So, should my kid download it?

Bark recommends parents exercise caution when allowing their kids to use Spotify, due to the overtly sexual content. Many kids may use the app and never come across an issue, but the potential is still there. We suggest having a conversation with your child, though it’s often uncomfortable, about what they may encounter and what they should do in that situation. On the flip side, we can recommend Spotify Kids for the super young kiddos, as it only offers curated family-friendly content. We hope this Spotify review was helpful to you!