Rhapsody extended its music streaming offer on Thursday, Oct. 1, to a completely new market niche.
Not only does the new section of the service cater to kids who love listening to music, but the company put every effort into keeping the whole family happy with the release.
"We're not trying to sell you anything else but a music experience," said Ethan Rudin, chief financial officer of Rhapsody. "That expands beyond just millennials or adults."
Rhapsody is a veteran of music subscriptions, being one of the first companies to offer unlimited access to music for a monthly price. As this business model is growing in popularity, names such as Spotify and Apple are occupying important corners of the market. Rhapsody has an advantage, though: loyal customers have been with the service long enough that their own children are now using it.
Rhapsody Kids is a section of the service's mobile app that targets young listeners while paying attention to parental concerns as well.
A catalog of kid-friendly songs and playlists is available with one tap. Parents are able to add music that is outside kids' standard preferences, such as classical tunes or oldies, for example. A number of smart default features will make parents' lives easier.
Songs and playlists that are bookmarked get downloaded automatically, so the child can listen to it offline. This is especially useful for trips where the Internet connection is unreliable. The automated looping system makes sure the musical experience keeps going even if the playlist reaches its end.
Parental control comes in the form of a swipe mechanism. This way, adults can still have playlists featuring Kanye West and System of a Down, and keep them far from the ears of children. It works by asking the child to swipe the screen in a particular direction: they can "drag the circle to the southeast corner using only one finger," for example.
Rhapsody Kids comes by way of a free update for Rhapsody and Napster apps on Android devices and is expected to launch for iOS in North America and South America soon. Napster is the name Rhapsody takes on in the global market.
Most music streaming apps for children rely on age-appropriate playlists or hoarding child-friendly songs, but very few take the time to customize the app with the young users in mind. Here is where Rhapsody Kids shows initiative and detaches itself from the average streaming music service provider.
Find out more about Rhapsody Kids in the video below:
