Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations

Jasper Heijne; Robin Ungruh; Maria Soledad Pera

doi:10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5

Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations

Jasper Heijne, Robin Ungruh^*, Maria Soledad Pera

^*Corresponding author for this work

Web Information Systems

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Recommender systems on popular online platforms expose impressionable and easily influenced younger listeners to varied content, making it crucial to reflect on the songs children can encounter due to their interactions with recommender systems. To set a foundation, we analyze the lyrics of a catalog comprised of ∼30,000 songs to gauge their suitability to children. Our multi-perspective exploration reveals a high prevalence of inappropriate lyrics in music commonly heard by children. This highlights the need for further explorations pertaining online platforms and their recommender systems that curate and ultimately present items from catalogs such as the ones we examined, highlighting the potential negative impact of such lyrics on their behavior and personality by promoting harmful language or biases. Informed by our findings, we outline research directions for the information retrieval community to consider when designing, evaluating, and deploying algorithms that serve diverse audiences.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers
Editors	Alejandro Bellogin, Ludovico Boratto, Federica Cena, Angelo Geninatti Cossatin, Theo Huibers, Styliani Kleanthous, Monica Landoni, Elisabeth Lex, Francesca Maridina Malloci, More Editors
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	60-75
Number of pages	16
ISBN (Print)	9783032127167
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5
Publication status	Published - 2026
Event	6th International Workshop on Algorithmic Bias in Search and Recommendation, BIAS 2025 and 2nd International Workshop on Information Retrieval for Understudied Users, IR4U2 2025 - Padua, Italy Duration: 17 Jul 2025 → 17 Jul 2025

Publication series

Name	Communications in Computer and Information Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	2786 CCIS
ISSN (Print)	1865-0929
ISSN (Electronic)	1865-0937

Conference

Conference	6th International Workshop on Algorithmic Bias in Search and Recommendation, BIAS 2025 and 2nd International Workshop on Information Retrieval for Understudied Users, IR4U2 2025
Country/Territory	Italy
City	Padua
Period	17/07/25 → 17/07/25

Keywords

Children
Harmful Content
Music Recommender Systems

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5

Cite this

Heijne, J., Ungruh, R., & Pera, M. S. (2026). Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations. In A. Bellogin, L. Boratto, F. Cena, A. Geninatti Cossatin, T. Huibers, S. Kleanthous, M. Landoni, E. Lex, F. Maridina Malloci, & More Editors (Eds.), Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers (pp. 60-75). (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 2786 CCIS). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5

Heijne, Jasper ; Ungruh, Robin ; Pera, Maria Soledad. / Blurred Lines : Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations. Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers. editor / Alejandro Bellogin ; Ludovico Boratto ; Federica Cena ; Angelo Geninatti Cossatin ; Theo Huibers ; Styliani Kleanthous ; Monica Landoni ; Elisabeth Lex ; Francesca Maridina Malloci ; More Editors. Cham : Springer, 2026. pp. 60-75 (Communications in Computer and Information Science).

@inproceedings{1d8b8291b9f8428aaa41962415d675c6,

title = "Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations",

abstract = "Recommender systems on popular online platforms expose impressionable and easily influenced younger listeners to varied content, making it crucial to reflect on the songs children can encounter due to their interactions with recommender systems. To set a foundation, we analyze the lyrics of a catalog comprised of ∼30,000 songs to gauge their suitability to children. Our multi-perspective exploration reveals a high prevalence of inappropriate lyrics in music commonly heard by children. This highlights the need for further explorations pertaining online platforms and their recommender systems that curate and ultimately present items from catalogs such as the ones we examined, highlighting the potential negative impact of such lyrics on their behavior and personality by promoting harmful language or biases. Informed by our findings, we outline research directions for the information retrieval community to consider when designing, evaluating, and deploying algorithms that serve diverse audiences.",

keywords = "Children, Harmful Content, Music Recommender Systems",

author = "Jasper Heijne and Robin Ungruh and Pera, {Maria Soledad}",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5",

language = "English",

isbn = "9783032127167",

series = "Communications in Computer and Information Science",

publisher = "Springer",

pages = "60--75",

editor = "Alejandro Bellogin and Ludovico Boratto and Federica Cena and {Geninatti Cossatin}, Angelo and Theo Huibers and Styliani Kleanthous and Monica Landoni and Elisabeth Lex and {Maridina Malloci}, Francesca and {More Editors}",

booktitle = "Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers",

note = "6th International Workshop on Algorithmic Bias in Search and Recommendation, BIAS 2025 and 2nd International Workshop on Information Retrieval for Understudied Users, IR4U2 2025 ; Conference date: 17-07-2025 Through 17-07-2025",

}

Heijne, J, Ungruh, R & Pera, MS 2026, Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations. in A Bellogin, L Boratto, F Cena, A Geninatti Cossatin, T Huibers, S Kleanthous, M Landoni, E Lex, F Maridina Malloci & More Editors (eds), Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol. 2786 CCIS, Springer, Cham, pp. 60-75, 6th International Workshop on Algorithmic Bias in Search and Recommendation, BIAS 2025 and 2nd International Workshop on Information Retrieval for Understudied Users, IR4U2 2025, Padua, Italy, 17/07/25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5

Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations. / Heijne, Jasper; Ungruh, Robin ; Pera, Maria Soledad.
Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers. ed. / Alejandro Bellogin; Ludovico Boratto; Federica Cena; Angelo Geninatti Cossatin; Theo Huibers; Styliani Kleanthous; Monica Landoni; Elisabeth Lex; Francesca Maridina Malloci; More Editors. Cham: Springer, 2026. p. 60-75 (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 2786 CCIS).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Blurred Lines

T2 - 6th International Workshop on Algorithmic Bias in Search and Recommendation, BIAS 2025 and 2nd International Workshop on Information Retrieval for Understudied Users, IR4U2 2025

AU - Heijne, Jasper

AU - Ungruh, Robin

AU - Pera, Maria Soledad

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - Recommender systems on popular online platforms expose impressionable and easily influenced younger listeners to varied content, making it crucial to reflect on the songs children can encounter due to their interactions with recommender systems. To set a foundation, we analyze the lyrics of a catalog comprised of ∼30,000 songs to gauge their suitability to children. Our multi-perspective exploration reveals a high prevalence of inappropriate lyrics in music commonly heard by children. This highlights the need for further explorations pertaining online platforms and their recommender systems that curate and ultimately present items from catalogs such as the ones we examined, highlighting the potential negative impact of such lyrics on their behavior and personality by promoting harmful language or biases. Informed by our findings, we outline research directions for the information retrieval community to consider when designing, evaluating, and deploying algorithms that serve diverse audiences.

AB - Recommender systems on popular online platforms expose impressionable and easily influenced younger listeners to varied content, making it crucial to reflect on the songs children can encounter due to their interactions with recommender systems. To set a foundation, we analyze the lyrics of a catalog comprised of ∼30,000 songs to gauge their suitability to children. Our multi-perspective exploration reveals a high prevalence of inappropriate lyrics in music commonly heard by children. This highlights the need for further explorations pertaining online platforms and their recommender systems that curate and ultimately present items from catalogs such as the ones we examined, highlighting the potential negative impact of such lyrics on their behavior and personality by promoting harmful language or biases. Informed by our findings, we outline research directions for the information retrieval community to consider when designing, evaluating, and deploying algorithms that serve diverse audiences.

KW - Children

KW - Harmful Content

KW - Music Recommender Systems

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105028278558&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5

DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105028278558

SN - 9783032127167

T3 - Communications in Computer and Information Science

SP - 60

EP - 75

BT - Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers

A2 - Bellogin, Alejandro

A2 - Boratto, Ludovico

A2 - Cena, Federica

A2 - Geninatti Cossatin, Angelo

A2 - Huibers, Theo

A2 - Kleanthous, Styliani

A2 - Landoni, Monica

A2 - Lex, Elisabeth

A2 - Maridina Malloci, Francesca

A2 - More Editors, null

PB - Springer

CY - Cham

Y2 - 17 July 2025 through 17 July 2025

ER -

Heijne J, Ungruh R , Pera MS. Blurred Lines: Understanding the Fit of Song Lyrics in Music Catalogs That Can Reach Children Through Recommendations. In Bellogin A, Boratto L, Cena F, Geninatti Cossatin A, Huibers T, Kleanthous S, Landoni M, Lex E, Maridina Malloci F, More Editors, editors, Advances in Bias, Fairness, and Understudied Users in Information Retrieval - 6th International Workshop, BIAS 2025, and 2nd International Workshop, IR4U2 2025, Revised Selected Papers. Cham: Springer. 2026. p. 60-75. (Communications in Computer and Information Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-12717-4_5