When parents think about protecting their children online, they often focus on social media platforms and gaming apps. But a growing body of evidence from mainstream news outlets suggests that even music streaming services like Spotify pose serious risks to young users.
The Grooming Case That Made Headlines
In January 2023, the Manchester Evening News revealed that an 11-year-old girl from Stockport was sexually groomed through Spotify for months, with predators encouraging her to upload multiple explicit pictures of herself to the music streaming platform before her account was deleted.
The mother, referred to as Rachel to protect her daughter’s anonymity, described how users exploited the app’s playlist feature to communicate with children. Without a private messaging feature, predators created empty playlists and exchanged messages by changing playlist names and song titles. As playlists were shared, more groomers joined, contact details were exchanged to communicate outside Spotify and demands became increasingly inappropriate.
The case shocked local authorities. The police officer who responded said she had never heard of Spotify being used for grooming, and the NSPCC confirmed they had not seen this type of grooming on Spotify before, calling it evidence of how predators will exploit any app children use if possible.
Rachel, a teacher who considered herself a strict parent, had kept her daughters off Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok specifically to keep them safe online. She allowed her eldest daughter to use Spotify only because she enjoyed listening to podcasts before bed—what seemed like a safe choice turned into a nightmare.
A Widespread Problem with Explicit Content
The grooming case was just one symptom of a larger problem. Media investigations have repeatedly uncovered widespread inappropriate content on Spotify:
2022: Vice Investigation In July 2022, Vice reported finding a surprising amount of hardcore pornographic images on Spotify, easily discoverable by typing periods or commas into the search bar. A father contacted Vice after his eight-year-old daughter accidentally found hardcore porn by typing a single period.
Loudwire independently verified the existence of hardcore pornographic images and explicit sex recordings on Spotify, noting that this content was “accidentally discoverable through typing in just one comma or period into the search bar.”
2024-2025: Problem Persists In late 2024, users discovered pornographic videos appearing in Spotify search results. The Verge reported finding sexually explicit material tucked into search results for famous artists, with the content slipping through Spotify’s filters using the podcast upload feature. Even with explicit content filters enabled, these videos appeared in results.
Child Safety Experts Sound Alarms
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) placed Spotify on their “Dirty Dozen List” for multiple years, citing sexually explicit images, sadistic content, and networks trading child sexual abuse material as evidence that Spotify is “out of tune with basic child safety measures.”
NCOSE researchers using minor-aged accounts with explicit content filters enabled were still exposed to graphic deepfake pornography of female celebrities within larger collections of pornography and suspected child sexual abuse material.
Child safeguarding specialist Gabriella Russo, who worked with the NSPCC for five years managing abuse prevention teams in primary schools, emphasised: “The message has got to be that everybody, in every corner of the internet needs to be actively seeking out and prohibiting child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse.”
What Parents Can Do
While Spotify offers a Kids version for children under 12 and has updated some policies, the problems persist. For families who choose to use Spotify:
- For younger children: Use Spotify Kids (available with Premium Family plan)
- Enable explicit content filters – but understand they’re far from foolproof
- Monitor playlists and followers closely
- Make playlists private to reduce exposure to strangers
- Have ongoing conversations about online safety and predatory behavior
- Consider third-party parental control apps for additional monitoring
Rachel’s message to other parents: “I am so determined to spread awareness of this to make other parents aware as we had no idea this could happen.”
The bottom line: What seems like a simple music app has proven to be another digital danger zone requiring constant parental vigilance and open family communication about online safety.
Sources: Inkl, Prolific North, Vice, Loudwire, Digital Music News, Headphonesty, NCOSE
