Spotify announced Wednesday that it is extending its managed accounts capability to the free, ad-supported tier in six countries, enabling parents to create supervised accounts for children under 13 without purchasing a Premium Family plan.
The rollout begins Wednesday in Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand and Sweden. Until this expansion, managed accounts were restricted to Premium Family subscribers in select markets - a capability the company introduced nearly two years ago.
Spotify describes managed accounts as a music-only experience with built-in parental controls. Parents can filter content labeled as explicit and control playback for specified artists. Visual features such as videos and Canvas looping visuals are turned off by default, and younger listeners on these accounts will not have access to social features like Messages and Jam.
Children using managed accounts will be able to build playlists and receive personalized music recommendations, including through features like daylist. They will also get a separate year-end Wrapped summary that is distinct from their parents' listening data.
The company highlighted usage patterns it says are relevant to the change: 94% of its users depend on Spotify to discover new music, and 54% report sharing what they listen to with their children.
On the free tier, young listeners will hear advertisements. Parents who prefer an ad-free environment can subscribe to Premium Family, which allows them to add young listeners as members of the plan.
To set up a managed account, parents can navigate to Settings and privacy, then Parental controls, and can modify those preferences at any time through their own account settings.
Implications for consumers and services
The move expands access to supervised listening for families without requiring a paid family plan, while preserving controls and limiting content and interactive features by default. It keeps advertising in the experience for free-tier child accounts, creating a separate path for parents who want ad-free listening through Premium Family.