• 2 min read
Spotify makes kids' managed accounts free in more markets
Parents on any Spotify plan in six countries can now add free managed accounts for children under 13, with parental controls and private profiles.
Image: Engadget
Spotify is widening access to its managed accounts for children under 13, making the feature free for parents and guardians on any plan in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany and the Netherlands starting today.
The company says free managed accounts are already available in some markets and will soon expand to others, including Canada, New Zealand and many countries across Europe and Latin America. Spotify first introduced the feature on the Premium Family plan in October last year.
Managed accounts give younger users their own profile, along with personalized recommendations and the ability to create playlists, while keeping parental controls in place. Spotify says these accounts are centered on audio: videos and Canvas looping visuals are disabled by default.
The accounts also come with several privacy and safety restrictions. They have no messaging, profiles are private and unsearchable, and children can’t upload a profile photo, though they can choose an avatar. Explicit content is filtered automatically, and parents or guardians can decide which songs and artists their children are allowed to hear.
There’s a side benefit for adults too: with kids using separate profiles, a parent’s recommendations — and even Spotify Wrapped — should better reflect their own listening habits.
Recommended reading
Gemini can draft a trip plan in minutes
To set one up, open the menu from the home screen in the Spotify app and tap Add account > Add a child under 13/create a managed account. Spotify then shows an explanation screen before asking whether to enable videos or explicit content for the new account.
The feature now reaches beyond Spotify’s family-plan paywall, bringing child-specific profiles and parental oversight to free users in a growing list of markets.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via Engadget
