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[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
Goodbyespotify1
Newbie
2017-07-16 05:18 PM
"Working on it" is a relative term. Agree, the language is out of control. How hard is it for them to solve for this? All songs are already labeled as explicit anyhow.
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rccbklyn
Visitor
2017-07-16 06:32 PM

hello, i just joined & while i enjoy the app immensely not having the option to screen explicit lyrics is a huge drawback. i am a business analyst so i don't believe it would require a major enhancement because you already label explicit songs. this seems like a popular request & being that your competitors offer it i'm hoping i don't have to switch to either pandora or apple.

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Flwatergal
Visitor
2017-07-16 07:39 PM

Wow, my 12 year old daughter was just playing her Spotify playlist & two songs that I currently hear on the radio played versions that had my mouth drop to the floor. Prude or not, I'm a parent that doesn't find it appropriate to expose my children to this type of influence. I don't need to hear Nicki Minaj tell my preteen daughter to "F* who she wants & F* who she likes." I went to find a filter to pass on explicit songs and select clean versions and couldn't find one. How does Pandora do this successfully but Spotify not? All I keep reading is how there is no specific update for this feature as recent as November 2016 but thousands of subscribers have been requesting this for at least three years. Please don't tell me the technology isn't out there because I've read otherwise. Perhaps it's time to look at Pandora. 

Realguy
Newbie
2017-07-16 09:12 PM

Lots of good playlists with explicit songs that I can't play around certain people. It's be great if there was a simple toggle for this. Maybe skips explicit songs but still shows them in the playlist.

JackMeadow
Visitor
2017-07-17 02:40 AM

This original post is from 2012!! And yet they are still "glad to hear our thoughts" but have yet to integrate this. Plenty of other music apps have this feature, so it must not be that complicated to include this feature. If they had this feauture I would be a bigger fan. So for now I will have to stick with google play music for my daughter to listen to, as they have this feauture available.  

Ed_ee
Visitor
2017-07-17 03:06 AM

Might I suggest trying to play the clean version of the song before skipping. If a clean version is not available then skip the song. 

0 Likes
alrcosnulting
Visitor
2017-07-17 08:17 AM
Why do you think that is a good idea?  Users would have to listen to every song before its played in front of kids?  That is simply not useful.  Why not develop a filter like ever other service has?  Customer service 101.
schwartzasher
Newbie
2017-07-17 12:18 PM

Agreed. Just skipping a song labeled explicit isn't enough. People want ease of mind knowing their kids or they can just leave Spotify going without having to be hovering over it every 2 seconds. I created a playlist though of non explicit songs. That's how I got around it but otherwise you cant

lucasjwalker
Newbie
2017-07-18 06:08 PM

How has this feature not been added yet? Sounds like such an oversight for Spotify not to have this. I mean, its 2017 already, this idea got submitted in 2012.

0 Likes
user-removed
Not applicable
2017-07-18 07:09 PM

Personally, I wouldn't mind if instead of skipping the track all together, if there could simply be a "clean" version that plays in its place. Apple Music does it this way. I don't mind the occasional curse word, but there are occassions in which toggling the clean option would be beneficial. For instance, a kids dance party, a roadtrip with your parents (because who wants "p***y" to be belted out over the speakers when you're dad is in the passenger seat... but it's a song you love so you still want to hear it), or maybe your grandma borrows your iPad and sees a playlist titled "Have a Great Day!" and suddenly Eminem starts playing.... no one wants grandma to have a heart attack. 

So, for the consideration of the folks that may be a bit more sensitive to the explicit lyric that some how comes over speakers at just the right (or wrong) moment a little louder than the rest of the words in a song..... Please provide a clean alternative toggle with which we might enjoy the same songs but with the explitives muted or substituted. 

 

Thanks! 😄 

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