Streaming music giant Spotify has announced that the Spotify Kids app is launching in the UK.
The app is only available to Premium Family subscribers.
This means that it is ad-free and it also brings some new features for kids – and their parents.
Perhaps most importantly, the music available through the app, which is aimed at children aged three and up, is selected and filtered for content.
This means that they won’t be able to access songs with sexual content, swearing and other inappropriate content.
There is currently a library of around 8,000 tracks deemed age-appropriate and selected by Spotify editors, with more to be added over time.
App gives parental control over available tracks
It gives more parental control and allows parents to input the age of the user and select the kind of music they want them to have access to.
This means, for example, that a 13-year-old will have different choices from their three-year-old brother or sister and won’t be stuck listening to ‘Baby Shark’ on loop.
As well as songs, there are plenty of stories on the app, which could be an extremely welcome feature for parents of younger children.
Will Gardner, director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, said: ‘It’s brilliant to have Spotify’s support to make the internet a safe and encouraging place for young people to learn, find their voice, and explore their identities.
‘For many, music is an essential part of self-discovery, so to have a safe space for children to begin this journey is very welcome.’
The Spotify Kids app had previously been trialled in Ireland.
It is now available in the UK and Australia and is expected to be rolled out globally over coming months.
SoundCloud gets an injection of funds
In other music streaming news, the pioneering platform SoundCloud announced this week that it has secured $75m in funding from Pandora owner SiriusXM.
SoundCloud has been described as the ‘YouTube of audio’ due to the fact that much of its content is user-generated.
Unlike Spotify, which collects published music for its library, SoundCloud allows artists to put up new music that is directly available to fans.
This makes it perfect for new acts trying to showcase or build up a fanbase, but established musicians also use it to debut new or experimental material.
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
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