Blocking Adult podcasts

[Gmwrjw213]

My Question or Issue

Many explicit podcasts are on Spotify that are not marked as explicit.  See attached example.  My tween has access to the attached podcast and other similar ones even though I set her account to screen for explicit material.  Aside from Spotify’s failure to block this material in the first place, there is also no way to even report the content so it will be properly marked in the future,  but the most important thing would be for Spotify to block it in the first instance, OR eliminate your family plans and tell parents directly that Spotify has no interest in a family friendly environment so we know that before we sign up.  

[Ivan]

Hey @Gmwrjw213, 

Thanks for posting - we’re here to help!

In case you're using a Family plan we suggest having a look at this help page. The article explains how you can block explicit content for your plan members. 

We also recommend checking out this Live Idea about implementing a feature allowing users to block adult content. We always take new ideas and feedback into consideration to improve the app. Here you can read more on how ideas work.

Make sure you add your vote to this idea by clicking on the +VOTE button. You can also Subscribe via the three-dots menu in the top right corner next to the title to stay up-to-date with any relevant updates about this. It’s also worth knowing that the higher the number of votes an idea gets, the more likely it is for the idea to be implemented. 

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any questions.

[Gmwrjw213]

Thanks for responding, but I think you missed the point of the compliant. I had already taken the steps you recommended to supposedly block explicit content and my whole complaint is that it is completely ineffective w respect to podcasts. My prior posts included screen shots with examples of what is available (it’s not letting me attach here - but with explicit content technically “blocked” my child can still access podcasts about giving someone a **bleep** and three way **bleep** among others. And there is no way to report these podcasts as including explicit content or flag it for Spotify the way one can for songs. It is NOT effective to rely on podcasts to self identify their content as explicit. Other platforms are able to screen such material, I’m sure Spotify could do it if it wanted to.

Also, the idea that you recommended that I “like” was my idea. I think it is ludicrous that Spotify will wait for 500 people to find this message board and like my post before even considering taking action to solve a problem that is harming children and families. It’s an awful way to run a business.

[mouwthe]

My nine year old daughter found the same podcast pictured here (even though we are supposedly blocking explicit content already). She listened to the entire series before we caught it.

Does Spotify have any podcasts that can help parents explain things like incest, gangbangs, and BDSM to young children? Because we are really struggling with that right now. 

I would like to think that Spotify would have corrected this issue when it was brought to their attention here a month ago via this post. How many more kids need to be exposed to this before someone marks the content as explicit? Doesn't Spotify have a moral imperative to control this content before publishing it? At the very least, let us Family plan users know that Spotify is unable to properly flag podcasts as explicit and then give us the ability to block all podcasts as well as explicit songs!?!

[willyjrchiang]

same thing here. I’m really **bleep** off to see these adult podcasts showing but Spotify has no way letting me to hide them manually. Cancelling my subscription.

[hjspencer]

Stunning work Spotify.  You link to another thread from the OP and point everyone there to vote but you've **bleep** closed the vote.

How can this NOT be a feature?

Unbelievable!!!

[Ver]

Hey @hjspencer,

Thanks for reaching out here on the Community.

Please make sure to follow our Guidelines when posting in the Community and remember to keep a friendly tone.

We look into all popular ideas that reach the vote threshold, but we cannot feasibly prioritize every idea submitted so the ones that don't receive support by the wider community get closed.

The votes are not locked and people can still add their votes. We'd be reviewing at a later stage. If the idea continues to gather votes, it can actually get prioritized and looked into. You can find more information about the different idea statuses in the article @Ivan mentioned.

If you need anything else, the Community is here for you.

[WhiteDeath]

Ineffective, useless reply. I know you're just doing what corporate tells you to do, but this is a disgusting business practice, full stop.

[hjspencer]

Until Spotify actually do this the solution will not be accepted.

 I’m not too bothered tbh as I’ve moved on. Only here as I never closed my account. 

[bespokedesigns]

Stop using Spotify and cancel your account making sure you tell them why you are doing this. By continuing to use Spotify you are by default agreeing to their policies and in this case their irresponsible control of X-Rated content for kids and teenagers.

The only way to change things is to affect their income and revenue. Then they will magically claim that they care about their users, their mental health and their positive understanding of sexual education and mutual respect.

Until then they and the content producers are laughing at you, buying fast cars, multiple properties and creating a culture of abuse for desperate men and women who are forced into **bleep** work.

[bespokedesigns]

How Ironic that they automatically **bleep** out the three letter word to describe the act of making love in their chat forum, but can't be bothered to block X-Rated content for children and teenagers. No doubt they defend the lack of content control as freedom speech for content providers to make and share any content they want using language that is far worse, but don't dare to use the three letter word to describe the act of making love in their chat forum in case someone is offended! You couldn't make it up!

[Concerned-parent]

This issue needs to be resolved, just discovered my child had access to podcasts and shows and are labeled “Warning extremely explicit content” despite having the block explicit content enabled on their account under a family plan. 

How can Spotify allow this to slip through the filters? 

Just poor management in my opinion. 

[KFSBA]

Premium

Country USA

web app or windows desktop version, not on android mobile

My Question or Issue

"**bleep**  **bleep**" podcast on homescreen, no way to remove. Had to shut down Spotify in front of family. can't get rid of it.

this is the last straw with spotify.

[#14]

There's a podcast that uses the video feature to post clips of porn. It shows up on my homepage and uses the preview feature to show nsfw stuff there when I'm just trying to listen to my podcasts. It's also not marked as explicit, meaning it can be seen by anybody. It's clearly in violation of the platform rules, but when I messaged Spotify Cares about it, they blew me off and said I should listen to different genres of music and podcasts so I wouldn't see it. It's absurd.

[americansteel]

Is there anybody from the Spotify team that can say whether this issue is being addressed or not? I've been a family premium subscriber for a while and honestly this is leading me to look into canceling my account. Thanks.

[Gavpedz]

The whole reason I left sporify. Very sad they they think it's ok to expose young children to this. 

[birk25]

Has anyone found a good alternative music app for teenagers?? I am at my wits' end with **bleep** on Spotify, as is everyone else on this thread. Just discovered a "podcast" called "the stash" - if you search it on Spotify, you will get links of graphic **bleep** acts on video. I mean, honestly. What is this trash doing on a music app? Spotify will do nothing because it knows full well it is making money off of teen boys who have been blocked from regular **bleep** sites and are looking for an alternative. And they are ruining their healthy sexual development in the process of making money off our boys. I don't know what to do anymore about this. I want to cancel Spotify because I can't stand giving them money, but what are our alternatives for our kids who want to listen to music? A kids app is not acceptable, our boys will not be happy with that, and they should be able to listen to music without having access to video **bleep**.