Is YouTube Music Safe? A YouTube Music App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

YouTube Music has a music library of 60 million tracks available to stream. Anytime an app has a million of anything — songs, videos, images, games — there’s going to be potential for mature or adult-rated content. So we can assume the same for this app, meaning songs and video content can include topics like sex, drugs/alcohol, violence, profanity, and more. 

In addition, it was recently discovered that many music-streaming apps have a wide range of pornographic content — including YouTube Music. Users can easily find things like soundtracks of sex noises and erotic storytelling podcasts. To counter this, the app has a “Restricted Mode” which will hide potentially harmful content. You can find this option in settings and toggle it to “on”. 

Predation 🚨

No chat features = happy parents! And luckily, YouTube Music is chat-free! So you don’t have to worry about a stranger striking up a conversation with your kid while they listen to their music. 

Privacy 🔒

Technically, you don’t have to sign-in in order to use YouTube Music. But if your kid wants to enjoy the perks of saving their favorite songs and getting personally curated recommendations, then they’ll have to sign in using a Google account. And specifically, on the smartphone version of the app, they won’t be able to stream anything without signing in. However, if your kid can use a Google account that does not include their real name, that will be enough to keep your kid’s privacy safe. 

Additionally, YouTube Music allows you to make your own playlists and each one can be made public, private, or unlisted (meaning only someone with a link can find it). If you prefer, you can make sure your kid keeps their playlists private or unlisted to avoid them being discovered by strangers. 

Parental Controls ✅

While YouTube Music has the Restricted Mode and the ability to make playlists private, there are no extra safety measures to ensure kids won’t adjust these settings themselves without you knowing. Even further, YouTube cannot guarantee that the Restricted Mode will catch everything inappropriate, so parents should be aware that there’s still a risk of exposure to harmful content even with this setting turned on. 

Bark also provides support for families who use YouTube Music. We’re here to help you keep your kid safe by allowing you to

• Block YouTube Music entirely if needed.
• Manage when your child can use YouTube Music throughout the day.

So, should my kid download it?

With the potential for inappropriate song lyrics and video content, it’s probably best to keep young kiddos away from this app until they’re older — until about age 15. But you know your child best, so you’ll know when they’re mature enough to handle it.