What you need to know
- The Spotify Kids app is now available in the U.K. and Australia.
- This is a new child-friendly service for Spotify Premium Family account holders.
- The app remains in beta as Spotify receives feedback from parents and caregivers.
Spotify's finally bringing its child-friendly Spotify Kids app to more countries, just in time for Safer Internet Day. Exactly as the name implies, Spotify Kids is a curated app experience for young children who want to use the Spotify service. There's no algorithm to be hijacked here by bad actors. it's all hand-picked and hand-selected music curated by Spotify's editors.
While the app's not entirely new (the app was originally launched in Autumn 2019), it's now expanding to the U.K. and Australia, two large markets for the streaming service.
You'll need to have a Premium Family account to take advantage of the service. You'll then be able to download and sign into the Kids account with the master account to gain access to the colorful, simplified, and ad-free interface.
Spotify explained the rationale behind the app last year:
Kids consuming audio content, such as music and stories, isn't a new phenomenon—in fact, they love it. But most audio experiences were built with adults in mind—meaning they're not simple, easy, or fun for young kids to use.Spotify Kids was born out of the desire to create a playground of sound just for kids—to build a place where younger kids can explore their favorite music and stories in a fun environment. The content is ad-free and hand-picked by a team of editors, and the experience is bursting with color. Our visuals help guide young minds through the app with simple navigation and scaled-back text.
The app is clearly intended for younger children (older ones would bristle at the limitation) and would prevent them from stumbling onto unsavory music by accident. It's worth noting that the service is still in beta. Spotify says that it's still learning as it gets feedback from parents and caregivers, explaining the staged roll-out. Newer features like audiobooks and podcasts are in the works, though there's no timeframe given for those.
As of now, Spotify Kids is currently available in the U.K., Australia, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, and Ireland.
