Spotify Is Problematic

because porn

This week we are back to our regular format. In this post I will warn you about Spotify, get excited about the Ring Holiday Door Chimes and remind you about an upcoming event. Oh…and read to the end for a special announcement!

Spotify

I've been meaning to write about Spotify for a while now. A recent post on IG from the Bark account reminded me.

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

Bark correctly points out that Spotify has a lot of inappropriate content on it. Not just lyrics there are also:

• Album covers with explicit imagery

• Playlists of sex sounds

• Podcasts of erotic storytelling

• The ability to watch youtube and tiktok videos

• Playlists being used for communication

Here’s what else you need to know

• Like social media, you are supposed to be 13+ to create an account on Spotify

• Spotify does not have parental controls

• Spotify does have Spotify Kids but most kids I know (mine included) outgrew it long before they turned 13 leaving them in a sort of music no man’s land

Music is personal

Every family has different tolerances for explicit lyrics. Or at least I know my rules/values are hyper specific.

I will tell on myself here and admit that I am more tolerant of curse words in songs because I think about songs as art. My kids can listen to curse words but they can’t say them.

I will also admit that my art allowance does not extend to racist, homophobic, misogynistic or gratuitously violent lyrics. I am not ok with that. And my kids can’t handle the soapbox I climb on every time I hear derogatory lyrics about women.

So that's complicated.

But music is complicated.

I found a pretty good hack

Here’s a hack that I found that might work for some of you:

I do not allow my kids to lie about their age. This means they cannot get their own Spotify accounts until they turn 13.

But, I do allow them to make playlists on MY Spotify account (tips on how to make sure you kid playlists don’t mess with your Spotify Wrapped in the paid section of this post).

I then transfer their playlists over to this thing:

This is The Mighty. Its like an old school shuffle that you operate through an app. I load on playlists, refresh them, delete them, whatever— then hand the Mighty to my child.

When both my kids want to listen, we use one of these headphone splitters.

And that’s it! I highly highly recommend this hack. I also wish Mighty would let me be an affiliate sales rep for them but they said my Social Media Following isn’t big enough yet. So in the meantime, please buy a Mighty here and please follow me on Instagram if you don’t already!

Worth Flagging

1. Ring Holiday Doorbell Chimes - A few weeks ago I shared with paid subscribers how to set up holiday doorbell chimes on the Ring. Demo below. The update is that the Holiday Chimes are now ready!

2. Holiday Gift Ideas. If, for some reason, you didn’t get a chance to check out my gift guides— here they are— Gifts for Kids, Gifts for Grown Ups and Practical Tech Stuff to Stock Up On.

Events

• I will be joining the Ok To Delay Armonk Chapter for a Fireside Chat TONIGHT. Please register and join us!

Special Announcement

This is very early days but I am working on an on-demand course for parents. This course will give parents solutions to their pressing tech challenges: how to choose a device, how to set up parental controls, how to assess risk for social media, how to look for hacks and so much more. I am offering Paid Subscribers a special opportunity to join my beta to and help me shape this product. Please click on the link below if you are interested!