Announcements

Help Wizard

Step 1

NEXT STEP

[All Platforms] Explicit Filter

Submitted by on ‎2012-02-18 04:32 PM
Status: implemented

Add a button that controls whether Explicit songs are played or not.  When it is off and you're listening to an album or playlist, the explicit songs are skipped. That way you can still listen to your favorite album or playlist when more impressionable members of the family (kids / parents) are around.

Updated on 2018-12-06

Hey folks!

It's great to hear music as the artist intended it to be heard, this means Spotify can sometimes include explicit content.
 
We recommend looking out for the EXPLICIT tag on any releases (E on the web player).
Note: Our explicit content tags are applied based on information we receive from rights-holders. This means we can’t guarantee all explicit content is marked as such. 

It's also now possible to use the Explicit content filter on mobile and tablet devices (more devices coming soon!). Right now, the setting is only for the individual account and device. If you do apply the setting on your phone, it doesn't filter explicit content for the same account on the desktop app. It also doesn’t apply if you use Spotify Connect to play to another device. For more information on this, check out this support article.

We'll keep you up-to-date if there's anything else to share!

Thanks
Comments
spotify2345
Visitor
2017-11-08 08:53 PM

Is there any option that allows one to remove explicit content? 

0 Likes
maxwinkler13
Newbie
2017-11-08 11:06 PM
no
0 Likes
user-removed
Not applicable
2017-11-09 09:42 AM

I agree there should be a filter button to choose whether or not you want to play explicit or radio edits. Depending on the surrounding audience (your friends, your children, your parents, your relatives, et ), you should be able to at least have the option/choice. Music should be able to be shared with as many people as possible - this helps with its reach and inclusion.

0 Likes
kwrathy
Visitor
2017-11-09 05:27 PM

I am a middle school teacher and I love listending to whatever playlist I feel like fits the day! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a way to disable explicit songs. On some playlists I can look ahead and skip a song but I have found that on "My Daily Playlist" some of the songs aren't marked as explicit...so I think I'm good and then my class catches the cuss word. 

0 Likes
shade4slayer
Visitor
2017-11-09 06:15 PM

It is against my religion to listen to / watch explicit media. I would be able to use Spotify much more if I could filter those out.

0 Likes
kayleefrye
Newbie
2017-11-09 06:58 PM

I would use the Spotify built-in playlists more (i.e., at all) if I knew I could listen to songs without the explicit content. It makes it really hard to listen and find new music when I am constantly worried about the content in the songs. I understand artists wanting to express themselves, but just skip the song and don't play it for me if I don't want the content. I get the feeling that if this has been requested for more than 2 years and you haven't done anything, you don't really care, Spotify. Even Pandora already has has this option, and so did Groove before it went under.

Heimlife
Visitor
2017-11-09 09:09 PM

Stop waiting to add it. It is as simple adding developed code to the software.

CuboidPilot
Newbie
2017-11-09 11:20 PM

I think one of the key problems we are faced with is the FCC which is US only. In the US the FCC protects the public from the broadcast of explicit content. This burdens the stations to insist the record labels provide versions of their content that can be broadcast. Spotify provides more than what the stations could ever bring and has no mandate to filter explicit content. The only way to get this done is if the users can flag content as explicit. Then an algorithm could find a version of the song that is not flagged explicit.

 

I think there is enough volunteer listeners to make this work for the people who care for this filteration. I have never heard of a similar agency like the FCC in Europe and don't have the impression they want one. 

 

This is mostly an American problem, but Spotify still needs to give us the tools.

0 Likes
cheapapples
Visitor
2017-11-10 01:18 AM

So I'm listening to the Top 40 with the my 6 years and all of a sudden I start hearing the swear words in songs, I try something different ......another Spotify built playlist of teen pop party, I'm sure that will be toned down.....but no, there are reams of songs marked explicit. Spotify goes off and the radio goes on.

 

I decide to look for what seems an obvious option....to turn off or filter songs marked explicit....to my surprise the resolution to this in spotifys help pages is to search for an alternative version with clean lyrics.....not an option if I'm playing a playlist.

 

Then I find this page with 5 years worth of comments, something you'd think a brand like Spotify would take seriously and would be able to fix easily, particularly as songs are already identified and flagged as explicit.

 

Their blatant disregard for something like this and the fact it is to help protect minors really makes me question the morals of Spotify....

 

Why the f...... hasn't this been implemented yet !!!!??

0 Likes
vgullotta
Regular
2017-11-10 03:18 AM

@CuboidPilot This has nothing to do with the FCC or America. They are developing the filter at Spotify (Stockholm, Sweden) right now, and it is a feature available on numerous other platforms, like Apple (Cupertino, CA) and Pandora (Oakland, CA). This was Spotify completely ignoring it's customers for half a decade and is now finally getting the hint and working on the filter themselves... don't be a hater.

0 Likes