Spotify Kids: Everything you need to know about new child-friendly music app
Parents will no longer have to worry about their children being exposed to tracks bearing bad language or adult themes, with audio streaming giant Spotify launching a child-friendly app.
Entertainment
Don't miss out on the headlines from Entertainment. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Parents can finally punt Baby Shark from their playlists with the launch of a tightly curated Spotify Kids app.
The stand-alone app will give kids age-appropriate songs devoid of bad language or adult themes from a variety of popular children’s bands and artists including The Wiggles, Disney, Sia, Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy and 5 Seconds of Summer.
Curated for “older children” and “younger children” aged above three, 130 playlists will feature on the beta launch version.
And there are a few parents will be happy to share during car rides, such as Australian Rock Hits with songs from national treasure Paul Kelly, the evergreen INXS and singalong favourite Crowded House.
After carefully combing through every lyric, Spotify editors even managed to unearth a couple of AC/DC songs suitable for kiddie listening, including Who Made Who and Let There Be Rock.
Pop Hits AU hosts songs by some of Australia’s most popular hip hop artists including Hilltop Hoods, Illy and emerging indigenous chart star Baker Boy, whose songs feature his Yolngu Matha language.
Children can also listen to bedtime stories for the little ones or educational audiobooks for older kids via the app. And regenerate Australia traditions via the Classic Australian Songs playlist which features Waltzing Matilda and Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree.
The app is a free extension downloaded via the parents’ Spotify Family subscription package, which adds a layer of data privacy protection; no information about the child is required.
“Following strict guidelines in the content selection, every single song and story on the Spotify Kids app is personally vetted and hand-picked by our editorial team,” said Spotify Head of Culture & Editorial, Alicia Sbrugnera.
MORE NEWS:
Royals to visit our bushfire towns
Cruisers’ new virus fears as face masks rubbished
40,000 spinal surgery patients at risk
Named and shamed: Banks still charging absurd fees
“Put simply, problematic songs and stories are identified during the vetting process and those deemed inappropriate or non-relevant to kids are not added to the app.”
To further reduce the possibility of inappropriate songs making it onto the app, kids cannot make their own playlists but can “favourite” songs.
The bonus for parents who can now kick their kids off their Spotify account is their listening habits will look a whole lot cooler and a lot less Hot Potato.