Hilary Giorgi

Supervised Google Accounts to Receive Access to YouTube Music

Supervised accounts have been announced by Google about a year ago, in February 2021. Meant for older children and preteens moving on from YouTube Kids, this type of account is in fact an adult one under parental supervision. It turns out, according to the recent news, that these accounts will also support YouTube Music.

So, if you are in your preteens and switch from Google kids to supervised, it means that you can choose from all the content YouTube has. Including YouTube Music, yes. There are three levels of YouTube access under these accounts: Explore, Explore More, and Most of YouTube, each providing more content than the previous. Still, your parents or elders supervise the content you consume, and if suddenly they consider it too radical or vicious, they can block these videos or tracks.

The idea of supervised accounts is quite logical: as kids grow old, they need more freedom in choosing content, and Google stops restricting them, passing this prerogative to their parents or other adults. The idea of combining various types of media content in it is even more consistent for Google.

Supervised accounts can be used under Family Link on any devices, including smartphones, tablets, computers, and Smart TV. Authorization is required on each device separately. No matter which of them a young viewer uses, the stats will still be available to the elders.

The idea of a music service for minors, with explicit content removed, is not new to Google. Before Google Play Music was ditched and replaced with YouTube Music, Google Family Link accounts allowed for connecting Google Music to a kid’s profile. After that, the feature was gone, and parents had tp buy a separate subscription on an alternate service. And now it’s back. So, dear adults, now you can make your kids like you did when parents overheard your audio tapes.

What do you think about this idea by Google? Are you (as an adult) ready to find that balance between freedom and safety that Google hands to you? Does your family use Google Family Link? Let’s share our experience in the comments!