Spotify brings Managed Accounts to free families — ads stay, Messages stay off
TL;DR
Spotify brings kids' Managed Accounts to free plans, with ads and explicit, Video and Messages off by default.
Spotify is offering children's Managed Accounts on its free tier for the first time, removing a control previously tied to paid Family plans. Starting July 15, families in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany and the Netherlands can open a separate account for a child 13 or under, or the local equivalent. Spotify's full availability list now covers 16 markets.
Free managed accounts still play Spotify ads. Children receive their own favorites, playlists, personalized recommendations and Wrapped, while their listening does not alter a parent's recommendations. Parents can block specified tracks and artists. Explicit content is restricted by default, while Video and Canvas are also off by default.
A Managed Account is private and cannot be found by other users. It has no purchasing ability and cannot use age-gated features such as Messages. The account offers a broader music catalogue than Spotify Kids, but controls remain on the parent's settings page and content filtering relies on explicit labels supplied by rights holders.
Spotify disclosed no new-account total, advertising revenue or conversion rate from the free expansion. It also announced no new partnership with Meta, Google or an AI recommendation system. The company said only that more countries are coming, without naming the next markets or dates.
via TechCrunch / Spotify Newsroom
Free managed accounts still play Spotify ads. Children receive their own favorites, playlists, personalized recommendations and Wrapped, while their listening does not alter a parent's recommendations. Parents can block specified tracks and artists. Explicit content is restricted by default, while Video and Canvas are also off by default.
A Managed Account is private and cannot be found by other users. It has no purchasing ability and cannot use age-gated features such as Messages. The account offers a broader music catalogue than Spotify Kids, but controls remain on the parent's settings page and content filtering relies on explicit labels supplied by rights holders.
Spotify disclosed no new-account total, advertising revenue or conversion rate from the free expansion. It also announced no new partnership with Meta, Google or an AI recommendation system. The company said only that more countries are coming, without naming the next markets or dates.
via TechCrunch / Spotify Newsroom
