Ask HN: When did Spotify become YouTube/TikTok?
3 points
1 hour ago
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The tablet my child is using is mostly limited to Spotify to listen to music and audiobooks. Other apps are locked/limited and I have set up DNS so it's using Cloudflare's "family DNS" to filter adult content, set up safe search, etc.

We have watched all Indiana Jones movies together so far, with the exception of Temple of Doom due to its frightening scenes.

My child came to me today and showed me that on Spotify (!) he is watching the heart-ripping scene from the Temple of Doom movie.

After checking out Spotify on the tablet, I was surprised to see that when I open it, the default view starts to play non-music related video content. I subscribed to Spotify to listen to music not for it to become YouTube / TikTok.

According to a recent Spotify announcement[1] videos should now be possible to be disabled, but I don't see this option on any of my devices.

A few things I'm trying to figure out:

- Is this just my experience or how does everyone else cope with this?

- Has anyone found the video disable option?

- Does Spotify try to compete with YouTube or TikTok? Why?

- What are the alternatives for music / audiobook listening with comparable library without all the visual pollution?

[1] https://newsroom.spotify.com/2026-04-09/video-control-settings-update/

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baxtr
1 hour ago
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I think, Spotify is being optimized for attention KPIs like time spent in app. If you’re listening to music, you don’t necessarily need to look at the app.

But with videos…

If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, Apple Music is the obvious alternative which gives you the plain experience. If not, maybe Amazon Music?

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