Spotify might be the biggest music streaming service on the planet, but you can’t accuse it of resting on its laurels. It continues to add features on a seemingly constant basis. The most current example is an update to Spotify’s family plan, which adds parental controls for the account that pays the bills. The update starts today in Ireland and then will progressively roll out to other markets into the fall. If you’re an existing family plan member, Spotify said it will notify you when the new features are available to you.
The update gives those with family plans several new features, but the big one is the ability for the main account holder to block or allow songs with explicit content for each sub-account associated with the plan. The company said this feature was heavily requested, and it makes sense: Individual users have always had the option to block explicit content if they chose, but there’s been no way for parents or guardians to make that decision on behalf of their kids. With the update, parents now have a way to filter content from a centralized location, which even ups the ante against Apple Music. Apple Music can filter explicit content, but parents must enable it on a device-by-device basis and need access to their kids’ devices to do it. Google Play’s parental controls work similarly, as does Pandora.
Family plans also get access to a new Family Mix personalized playlist. Much like the Duo Mix that Spotify was testing out earlier this year — which takes the musical tastes of two joint users and mashes them into a single playlist — Family Mix performs the same task, but with the genre preferences of up to six family sub-accounts. Depending on your family, this could prove to be an eclectic list indeed.
The main account holder gets a new Family Hub, which acts as a central location for managing all aspects of the family plan, from adding and removing sub-accounts, to filtering explicit content.
These additions come at the right time for Spotify. Recent rumours suggest the company is toying with the idea of raising its premium plan rates in some markets. If this happens, it will need all of the competitive advantages it can create in order to keep customers from jumping to one of the many other streaming music options.
Spotify adds parental controls to its family plan to filter explicit lyrics [Digital Trends]