At last, parents, your prayers have been answered! On Tuesday, Spotify announced that itâÂÂs finally doing something to fix how your kidsâ listening habits ruin your end-of-year Spotify Wrapped experience, and then some.
The company said itâÂÂs introducing a new toggle that will allow you to exclude kids and family music from your taste profile. That means no more Kidz Bop or Disney tunes in your personalized playlists, and no more K-Pop Demon Hunters track âÂÂGoldenâ as your most-played song of the year. (Or whatever your kids are into!)
The feature is now rolling out globally on mobile devices for both Free and Premium users and will automatically exclude kidsâ music from your taste profile when enabled.
Yes, we know the world has more pressing problems, but this is something Spotify users en masse â well, at least those with kids â have complained about yearly since WrappedâÂÂs debut.
The problem stems from the fact that parentsâ accounts are often used for their kidsâ listening, even if the family has separate accounts for the children on a Spotify Family plan.
ThatâÂÂs because home devices, like TVs and smart speakers, are often linked to a parentâÂÂs account so the family can stream music without restrictions. These devices are often found in common areas of the home, like living rooms, dens, and playrooms, where kids have access. Plus, many kids may have a speaker in their bedroom to stream things like bedtime tunes and lullabies.
Kids also tend to demand control of the music while in the car. And parents acquiesce, as theyâÂÂll essentially do anything to get a momentâÂÂs peace â even if that requires listening to Jack BlackâÂÂs âÂÂSteveâÂÂs Lava Chickenâ from the Minecraft movie over and over.
The end result of all this shared listening is that Spotify no longer knows what the account owner actually likes and what theyâÂÂve been forced to stream under duress.
Now, after years of complaints, that can change. Spotify says the new toggle will default to including the kidsâ music in your taste profile, but once you switch it off, those tracks will no longer influence your taste recommendations. This includes tunes from animated movies, theme songs from family TV shows, nursery rhymes, and other music designed especially for kids.
With this music excluded, those streams will no longer affect SpotifyâÂÂs suggestions, including playlists like Discover Weekly or Daily Mix, as well as its popular year-end review of your listening, known as Wrapped. WhatâÂÂs more, the change will apply retroactively, meaning the kidsâ music youâÂÂve already listened to wonâÂÂt count toward your Wrapped top song or artist, for instance.
Previously, Spotify had offered users a way to exclude specific tracks or playlists from their taste profile, but the process was tedious and largely manual. The company also more recently introduced Managed Accounts for listeners under 13, allowing them to discover age-appropriate music with parental controls.
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