Apple Music Any way on Spotify or Apple Music to have multiple simultaneous users on the same account?

[jclin10]

My kids are getting to the age where they are listening to their own music, though as a family, we'd still like to share one account where we know what one another is listening to (or rather, I'd like to know what my kids are listening to!).

Is there any way on Spotify or Apple Music for us to have one account but multiple simultaneous users? I know there is a Family option for both, where it is basically multiple accounts, each with a single user, but all paid for under one discounted account. I'd rather it be one account with multiple users.

 

[iStorm]

You can't share an Apple Music account unless you're okay with only one device being able to play at a time (and have six or less devices signed in). Though it may get annoying. If you're listening to music and then one of your kids start playing...it'll automatically stop playing for you.

Best you can do is going with the family setup. Each of you can have a profile to share what everyone is listening to. Can also set up parental controls to prevent explicit content if that's something you wish to do.

See what your friends are listening to

In Music on iPhone, see the music your friends are listening to by following them.

support.apple.com

 

[jclin10]

Thanks. Do you happen to know if, as a parent, I can do anything more than block explicit lyrics? Is there a way for me to see what they are listening to, besides just logging in to their accounts? Are they totally separate accounts or do they overlap in any way for sharing playlists, playing histories, etc.?

If anyone has compared Apple Music with Spotify on this question, I'd love to hear!

 

[pup]

Actually you can do what you want. Get the family plan so that you can play on more than one device at a time, but have each device sign into iTunes using the same account, as opposed to their individual iCloud accounts. (This is separate from the main iCloud sign in).

The drawback, if you see it that way, is that you’ll all be sharing the exact same library, playlists, etc. Best way around that is to create a playlist folder for each person and have them put their personal playlists there.

App purchases will also be on the same account.

If your kids are smart enough though, they’ll quickly figure out that they can sign out and then sign in again with their own iCloud account. Maybe that can be disabled - I’m not too familiar with the parental control stuff.

 

[jclin10]

Amazing, thanks!

I probably should know this, but if we have an Apple Music account, don't we already have access to all Apple music content? What do we need iTunes for in that instance?

 

[pup]

Yes, you'll have access on your iOS devices. But the Music app on the Mac (formerly iTunes) will make it easier to create and organize playlists.

I'm thinking though that the stumbling block for you might actually be seeing the history in a useful way, since your History list will remain specific for each device rather than the account. You'll have a 'recently played' section in Music, which updates almost immediately, but it only shows albums, not individual tracks. Plus it only shows the last 40 albums. I also know that it doesn't update with tracks played through 3rd party apps like Sonos.

You can create a smart playlist (last played in the last 5 days or whatever) on your Mac, but even if you select live updating, it will take a while to actually update with tracks from other devices. Like, 24 hours - seriously, it's that lame. I don't know what's wrong with it but I've seen multiple complaints about it on the web.

So with all that in mind, this may in the end not do what you're wanting. Unless somebody can post a better way to view your history, that is.