By Mallory Mattingly
While many parents recognize the danger video streaming poses to their children, listening to music in the digital age can expose them to harmful content, too.
Here’s what you need to know.
Music streaming apps such as Apple Music, Amazon Music and Spotify give children access to so much more than just music.
Spotify, for example, recently introduced music videos on its platform, meaning that sexually explicit content could pop up when your kids press play.
“Aside from videos, they can easily find or stumble across podcasts of people discussing sexual or adult content,” Bark, a parental control and tech safety organization, explained. “Worse still, there are podcasts of just sexual noises. And to top it all off, Spotify now has private messaging, making even music just another social media platform.”
But it’s not impossible to keep your child safe.
For young kids, Bark suggests either Spotify Kids or a Yoto player as best place for them to listen to music. These enable you to control what your child is listening to on their own.
Related: Are Your Kids Circumventing Parental Controls?
If you have teenagers in the home, you can put a content filter on apps like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music that will “ideally” block songs with adult content.
Bark warns, though, that “is not reliable, and adult content still gets through.”
“Additionally, there’s nothing stopping kids from toggling the setting off themselves at any point. That’s why this is for parents who feel their kid is ready for a more hands-off listening experience,” the group noted.
Sarah Gallagher Trombley, a digital parenting expert, shared her process for letting her kids enjoy music while keeping them safe.
I listen to the radio in the car with my kids
I allow my middle schooler to Shazam music he likes (for my younger, I Shazam it or if I happen to be driving I attempt to remember it)
We explore their music interests together in my account (we use Spotify but this would work with Apple Music and Amazon Music too)
I allow them to make playlists on my account which I then review
I transfer their playlists to The Mighty (this is basically a shuffle with an app that allows you import music from the music apps)
They listen on the Mighty
Ditching music streaming in favor of something like an old-school CD player could be an option too.
If your child is listening to music on their devices, then odds are you should check to make sure parental controls are on and active. This will help keep your child safe from seeing pornographic media and other adult content.
Read Next: Warning! Apple Music Could Expose Your Kids to Predators
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