Parental Controls | Sonos Community

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Is there a button that controls whether Explicit songs are played or not?

No, there isn't.

Is there 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.

Some music services allow you to filter songs, but there is no Sonos specific setting for either services or your local library.

Sonos does not respect the filter set from the music source. Apple music as an example will continue to play explicit music via Sonos after parental controls have been enabled. Sonos' response is that they want you to listen to the music as the artist has written it.

This is unacceptable in my opinion. Radio edits exist for a reason and my children should not be exposed to inappropriate content. Both Apple and Sonos need to work to build a solution here.

Where did you hear that "Sonos response is that they want you to listen to the music as the artist has written it"? Nowhere have I seen or heard this from Sonos. In fact, other music services allow the explicit filter to carry over to Sonos enabled accounts, so in no way is this a philosophical limit imposed by Sonos.

So we are back to Apple's implementation being at fault.

Both Apple and Sonos need to work to build a solution here.

Have you asked them to do that? And if so, what was their response?

Response below is from Sonos (Jack G, Customer Care)

The reason for explicit control not being available through your system is that our speakers are sold to a vast amount of customers who want to listen to the songs as the artist has written it.

Sounds fishy. At the very least, you should ask why they allow explicit filters via Pandora and Google Play Music Radio.

Response below is from Apple

Upon further review, I found that at this time it isn’t possible to enable filtering of explicit content with Apple Music on Sonos. Filtering explicit music on Apple Music is done on each individual device and this feature is not currently available on Sonos.

Response below is from Sonos

Response below is from Apple

Thanks for sharing this.

Hi everyone, I'd just like to clarify a bit here. For services where explicit content isn't filtered, it isn't by any active decision not to include the feature, it's usually a lack of coding in the software integration being used. If tracks are only tagged at the service level, they may have trouble getting filtered at the device level the way Sonos connects.

We know that a lot of homes have kids and a number of other reasons to desire explicit content filters so we've made sure to pass on the interest for you to the development teams. While we don't discuss future development possibilities or timelines, we'll let you know if there are any details which can be shared on this request in the future.

While we do believe strongly in the sound quality of the artist's intent, we also know it can be important to keep inappropriate content from unintended audiences.

Thanks Ryan. I have pushed Apple Music on this and they confirmed:

"Apple Music at this time does not have a feature that filters explicit content for Sonos.

I have submitted feedback on your behalf regarding this feature not being available yet, and I encourage you to also use that feedback link I previously provided."

I will put the pressure on Apple, as I hope others that read this thread do too.

Don't get me wrong I love Sonos and Apple but I feel strongly about this (I never would have cared before my kids came along). Hopefully they will include this support in future software updates

This is the single biggest problem with Sonos in my opinion. My 11 year old likes to listen to the charts on Deezer in our kitchen on our Play 3 and I was shocked the other day when a song suddenly had the word f***ing over and over again. We heard the same song on the radio yesterday and of course the offending word was replaced by another non-offensive word. I've just bought her a Play 1 for her birthday, thinking there must be a parental control setting to filter out explicit content, but now that I've found out there isn't I might have to return the Play 1. Please sort this out Sonos. I'm not a prude, but my daughter is only 11 and it's just not appropriate for her to hear that stuff, when it's totally avoidable.

Hi amyilk,

I'll pass on your interest to the team for Deezer. I know it's not ideal, but some services do have explicit content filters that will work with Sonos. If they're available in your country, Google Play Music and Pandora both can be filtered on Sonos. For Google Play Music you'll need to go through the Google Play web software on a computer and change the setting there.

I'm a longtime Sonos fan running 9 zones and personally responsible for at least half a dozen other current Sonos fans, so don't take his he wrong way, but this has been a major issue for 10 years Sonos doesn't seem to care about. I'm thinking a Chromecast audio plugged into a zone may be the hack to solve this. This $35 fix makes Sonos rather irrelevant for future zones which is sad. Anyone tried this?

Thanks Ryan. I have pushed Apple Music on this and they confirmed:

"Apple Music at this time does not have a feature that filters explicit content for Sonos.

I have submitted feedback on your behalf regarding this feature not being available yet, and I encourage you to also use that feedback link I previously provided."

I will put the pressure on Apple, as I hope others that read this thread do too.

Don't get me wrong I love Sonos and Apple but I feel strongly about this (I never would have cared before my kids came along). Hopefully they will include this support in future software updates

Totally with you here. When my kids aren't around, bring on the unfiltered stuff. But I want them to be able to use Sonos / Apple music and not have to worry about what they're going to come across.

Is there a link you can share to submit a request to Apple?

This is the link which apple provided

http://www.apple.com/feedback/apple-music.html

Please do send them feedback - I'd love to get more people requesting this

OK, just sent them something. Thanks for the link.

Hi everyone, I'd just like to clarify a bit here. For services where explicit content isn't filtered, it isn't by any active decision not to include the feature, it's usually a lack of coding in the software integration being used. If tracks are only tagged at the service level, they may have trouble getting filtered at the device level the way Sonos connects.

We know that a lot of homes have kids and a number of other reasons to desire explicit content filters so we've made sure to pass on the interest for you to the development teams. While we don't discuss future development possibilities or timelines, we'll let you know if there are any details which can be shared on this request in the future.

While we do believe strongly in the sound quality of the artist's intent, we also know it can be important to keep inappropriate content from unintended audiences.

Hi Ryan,

I realize you don't share development plans on here. I'm replying to your response to let you know that this continues to be an issue for many people in your community - I'm sure almost everybody with kids runs up against this all the time. Please continue to bring this to the attention of the dev team.

I'll make sure to pass on your interest Chris! Thanks.

Thanks. I've also submitted requests to Apple.

What would be helpful is to know whether it's a Sonos issue or an Apple issue, so that I can follow up with the right party.

I'll make sure to pass on your interest Chris! Thanks.

Thanks. I've also submitted requests to Apple.

What would be helpful is to know whether it's a Sonos issue or an Apple issue, so that I can follow up with the right party.

Often it's a "both” situation when it comes to who has to work on something. Development for new feature will take work from teams both at Sonos and with the service. We aren't here to place blame one direction or another as it isn't productive. We do however love hearing what you’d like to see improved for the future and we make sure to share those ideas with our partners too.

Still waiting....

Seriously. Been way too long. If I have to choose between Apple and Sonos, I'm far more integrated with Apple than Sonos. Just saying....

If you ask on Apple communities they just scoff and say it is sonos' fault and weak integration and software. And Amazon music has the same issue too. It really seems like it should be more of a priority than it is--which seems like it isn't one at all.

Just to add that I was disappointed to find this issue too. Recently got a Play:1 and with two young kids who love to dance round the house to all kinds of music, it's annoying to have to manually filter tracks and not have a more robust option to filter potentially unsuitable lyrics.

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