Spotify is launching a new app called Spotify Kids that’s meant to provide a safe space for kids to explore and listen to music.
The app, which launches today in Ireland, includes around 6,000 tracks, all of which have been curated by editors at Spotify. For “younger kids,” the app will be limited to things like Disney soundtracks, songs about dinosaurs, and children’s stories. If parents set the app up for an “older kid,” then it will add pop hits from artists like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Bruno Mars.
The app includes categories like Movies & TV, top hits, Activities (bedtime, homework, playtime, etc.), genres, seasonal, Spotify Originals, artist/groups, and Stories.
The playlists are all programmed by human editors, not algorithms, and are chosen by way of a set of guidelines about what’s appropriate for children.
The editors, Spotify says, have backgrounds from some of the most well-known brands in the children’s entertainment business, including Nickelodeon, Disney, Discovery Kids, Universal Pictures, Public Service (Sweden), and BookBeat (a family and kids-oriented audio streaming service).
The new app isn’t just for the preschool set. Instead, it can grow with the kids as they get older — but still aren’t ready for the parents’ application yet.
The new app also looks nothing like the main app — it’s colorful and bright, and has a look and feel that varies by the kids’ age group. For example, the younger kids see artwork that’s softer and character-based, while older kids have a more detailed experience.
The app requires a Spotify Premium Family subscription, which costs $14.99 per month in the US (or €14.99 per month in Ireland). Partly, that’s because Spotify Kids won’t show ads, which is a feature exclusive to paying listeners. Each kid’s account will count toward one of the six total accounts allowed under the family plan.
Spotify has also created a separate privacy policy that it says is compliant with both GDPR and COPPA, the American online privacy law for kids. It won’t collect location data (region restrictions are based on whatever the parent’s account is set to), and parents can delete data associated with a kid’s account at any time. Spotify only saves data related to what songs a kid is playing and favoriting; it says that data will neither be sold nor shared with third parties for advertising purposes. Spotify may still share that data with third parties for select other purposes, though, like connecting Kids accounts to TVs. What Spotify can share is outlined in the privacy policy.
The app, available on both iOS and Android, looks like a streamlined version of Spotify, stripped back to just a single feed filled with colorful playlists. Kids are meant to poke around at recognizable movie characters and different illustrations that Spotify has made (like a smiling guitar or a bouncing bucket of popcorn) or tap on artists they recognize if they’re old enough. Kids can search if they want to find something specific, though they can’t browse by artist or album. The app is really just meant to be browsed through the curated playlists Spotify has put together. In a particularly cute touch, kids get to choose between one of 12 adorable monster avatars, and the color scheme of the app will change based on what they pick.
