Spotify lets parents keep kids' songs out of recommendations and Wrapped
Spotify will now let parents stop children's songs from taking over their recommendations and year-end review.
The company announced on Sept. 15 a setting that removes kids and family music from a listener's taste profile, the behind-the-scenes record Spotify uses to decide what to suggest next, Billboard. The option is rolling out globally on mobile for both Free and Premium users.
Leave the setting on and nothing changes. Switch it off and kids and family plays will no longer feed personalised picks such as Discover Weekly, the weekly playlist of suggested new tracks, and Daily Mix, the rolling mixes built from past listening. They will also be left out of listening insights including Spotify Wrapped, the year-end recap of top songs and artists.
The clean-up goes backwards as well as forwards. Spotify said the exclusion applies retroactively, so earlier streams of kids' music will stop counting toward top songs or artists once the toggle is switched off. It can take up to 48 hours for the change to show fully in recommendations.
It is a filter, not a block. Listeners can still search for, play and add children's songs to playlists. Those plays simply will not shape the taste profile while the setting is off.
The control, labelled “Include kids and family music in taste profile”, is turned on by default. To change it, users tap their profile picture in the top-left corner, open Settings and privacy, then Content and display, and switch the toggle off.
For parents, this means an end to a familiar problem. A few months of lullabies or cartoon singalongs no longer has to rewrite an adult’s suggestions or dominate December’s Wrapped share.
The launch builds on an existing tool. Spotify already offers an “Exclude from Your Taste Profile” option that keeps selected playlists out of personalised recommendations, and users can apply it by opening a track or playlist, tapping the three dots and choosing the exclude option. Spotify had previously advised listeners to give children their own musical experience to protect parents’ Wrapped results.
