Explicit only flags the worst words.
Innuendo, party songs and mature themes get through with no label at all.
Clean music for families
Every song.
Every cover.
Checked first.
The explicit tag only catches the worst words. Refrain checks every song and every album cover against the standard you pick, and only plays what fits.
- iPhone + Mac
- 6 categories
- 3 levels
- Covers checked
9:41●●●
Kids · Family
✓ Passes
Cover hidden
County RoadJuniper Lane
0:423:18
Windows down, county road
Radio up, sun down low
Muted 0:42
Singing like nobody's home
Lyrics check
Passes Family
1 line muted at 0:42
Cover check
HiddenNot modest. Never shown.
Six categories
Language
Innuendo
Alcohol, drugs
From our testing
The explicit tag
isn't enough.
- 42%of chart songs Apple didn't mark explicit still had moderate content.
- 2 in 3of those were for sexual content or innuendo.
- 2,417songs rated so far, on all six categories.
From Refrain's ratings of 118 songs on the Apple Music Top 100 and iTunes genre charts that Apple didn't mark explicit, October 2026. Moderate means a 2 or higher on Refrain's 0 to 3 scale in any of the six categories.
Here's the problem
Clean versions bleep the words. Not the rest.
Album covers aren't rated at all.
A song with clean lyrics can still come with a cover you'd never put in front of your kids.
You can't listen to everything first.
New music comes out every Friday. Checking every song yourself takes time you don't have.
How Refrain works
Pick a level. Refrain does the checking.
Every song and every cover is checked before it plays. You set the standard once.
Strict, Family or Teen, for each person.
Every song is rated on six things.
Language, sexual content and innuendo, alcohol and drugs, violence, God's name in vain, and mature themes.
Songs that don't fit don't play.
When a song is nearly there, Refrain can mute the one line that isn't.
A cover that isn't modest is never shown.
Refrain's mark takes its place, on a wash of the cover's colors.
Why I'm building it
Built for my own family first.
I'm Ryan. I wanted my kids to be able to use Apple Music without me checking every song and every album cover first. Refrain has been running on our family's phones while I test it, and now I'm getting it ready for yours.
Ryan Singleton, maker of Refrain
What you'll need
- Device
- An iPhone or a Mac.
- Music
- An Apple Music subscription.
- Family
- A level for each person: Strict, Family or Teen.
- Spotify?
- Pick it on the form. It helps me decide what to build next.
Get on the list
Be first when Refrain launches.
Refrain is in testing on our family's phones now. Leave your email and you'll hear the day it's ready.
- One email the day it launches, and a few updates before then.
- Your email is never sold or shared.
- Unsubscribe anytime.
You're on the list!
Thanks. You'll hear from me the day Refrain is ready.
Know another family who'd want this?