Spotify’s newest feature has been on my Apple Music wishlist for years

Today Spotify announced a feature every parent has probably asked for: the ability to exclude kids and family music from their algorithm. Here are the details.

Parents can use new toggle so Spotify Wrapped and recommendations don’t include children’s music

A core feature of modern music streaming services is their ability to recommend music you’ll love.

But if you’re a parent, you know that children’s music has long been a blind spot for Spotify and Apple Music.

I have a toddler, so much of my Apple Music activity these days consists of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and other children’s songs. Thus, my recommendations and Apple Music Replay are more tailored to my child than me.

But Spotify just launched the solution, and I really hope Apple follows suit soon. Per Spotify:

Starting today, we’re rolling out a new toggle in your settings that lets you exclude kids and family music from your taste profile, so those streams no longer shape your recommendations. This includes, for example, the songs you play on repeat from your kids’ favorite animated movies, theme songs from family TV shows, nursery rhymes, and more.

When you turn this setting off, you can still search for, listen to, and build playlists of kids and family music, but those streams won’t affect what Spotify suggests for you. That means experiences like Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Wrapped more accurately reflect your taste. And yes, it applies retroactively, so kids music you’ve already listened to won’t count toward your Wrapped top song or artist, for example.

I’m shocked at how long it took for a feature like this to arrive. But I’m thrilled that it’s finally here.

To use the new toggle, go to ‘Settings and privacy’ in the Spotify app, then ‘Content and display,’ and switch off the toggle labeled ‘Include kids and family music in taste profile.’

If you’re an Apple Music user, one alternative workaround is to use Focus modes to toggle listening history on and off. But I imagine most parents won’t have the mental bandwidth to remember to switch modes back and forth constantly, so it’s not a great solution.

How do you handle streaming children’s music as a parent? Let us know in the comments.

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