“Make a Wish” Concert
When children take over the Spotify account: Musical family chaos in the digital age
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Technology meets the will of children: Enjoying music in the car turns into a chaotic battle for the family Spotify account. While Katharina Baumgartner tries to enjoy her favorite music, her daughter takes control of the car radio from home and suddenly the car becomes a rolling children’s disco – only without children.
Celle. Sometimes there are moments in life when you wonder if technology and children have a secret agenda. I recently experienced such an example with our shared family Spotify account – a musical battlefield on which my daughter and I engaged in a bitter argument about listening tastes.
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My latest musical adventure starts exactly where you ask yourself whether technology really makes everything better: with the plan to listen to music in the car completely digitally – without having to swap CDs back and forth. So I connect my cell phone to the car, synchronize everything and start my dream concert. I sit relaxed in the car, the sun is shining, the window is open and my favorite music is playing at full volume. The world outside can’t disturb me – until I stop at an intersection.
Who has control over the shared Spotify family account?
While this unbelievably good guitar solo was playing, the music suddenly stopped and a loud Eeeeah blared from my speakers. My daughter, who was in our living room a good 20 kilometers away, had decided that she would like to hear her favorite song, “The Cuckoo and the Donkey” – and that I should be able to enjoy it at the same time. I wasn’t the only one who looked a little confused when the two animals wanted to have their singing competition at maximum volume in my car – the drivers and pedestrians at the traffic lights were also amused.
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When children take over the playlist
An attempt to get my favorite music back ends with the abrupt entry of “Die Räder vom Bus.” That was the moment when I realized: The technology is just as annoyed by this musical ping-pong as I am. I fight against the invisible hand of an almost two-year-old who is sweeping through the music library of my family music account. I surrender and listen to “Hoppereiter” and “Bruder Jakob” as well.
At the end of the day, it was clear: the power of technology is limited, but the will of a determined child is invincible. One thing is for sure: I will never again underestimate how powerful a small voice can be in a living room – and I might prefer to enjoy my next music streaming subscription alone.
CZ
