Girl power has arrived: Kids’ audio player Yoto has added Spice Girls music to its library, in partnership with Universal Music Group.
Spice Girls: Greatest Hits, a collection of 14 songs, is now available for the Yoto Player and Yoto Mini via a music card priced at $12.99. Yoto made the announcement on Tuesday (Oct. 22).
Featured tracks include the Spice Girls’ biggest pop hits, which parents who grew up in the ’90s are sure to remember: “Wannabe,” which held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a total of four weeks in 1997, and “Say You’ll Be There,” which peaked at No. 3 on the chart the same year.
Yoto offers ad-free music, stories and educational activities for children on screen-free audio players. They’re used by inserting a card, like the new Spice Girls: Greatest Hits one, into a slot that’s at the top of the player.
“Adding the greatest hits from the Spice Girls to our music collection is an exciting milestone for Yoto,” says Dom Hodge, Yoto’s head of music and sound, in a statement about the new release. “We’re thrilled to make iconic ’90s hits from one of the most influential music groups of all time accessible to budding music lovers globally. We can’t wait for young listeners to discover the joy and vibrancy that shines through the Spice Girls discography.”
Sarah Boornman, Universal Music UK’s general manager youth strategies, says, “For so many parents, children themselves in the ’90s, the Spice Girls WERE pop music! We can already feel the anticipation and excitement, as these now adult fans get ready to pass on unmistakable, iconic anthems such as ‘Wannabe’ and ‘Spice Up Your Life’ to the next generation.”
Disney music favorites like original songs from Encanto and Frozen, plus classic song collections from The Beatles and Queen, are among the other featured music cards on Yoto’s website. Some other fun highlights are music themed for upcoming holidays like Halloween (Halloween Howls and Spooky Songs) and sets featuring classic pre-school songs.
There are several card options in classic children’s fiction –picks like Frog and Toad and Winnie-the-Pooh, both great series to read with younger ones, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Matilda, often enjoyed by elementary school-aged kids — for families who’d like to use the player to listen to stories.
Universal Music Group is among a Yoto’s current list of partners that includes PRH, Macmillan, Sony, Disney, Roald Dahl Story Company, Pottermore, HarperCollins, Hachette, Viacom, Bonnier and Scholastic.
The Yoto Player is priced at $99.99, and the 2024 edition of the Yoto Mini is $69.99.
Here’s the track list for Yoto’s Spice Girls: Greatest Hits card:
1. “Wannabe”
2. “Say You’ll Be There”
3. “2 Become 1”
4. “Mama”
5. “Who Do You Think You Are”
6. “Move Over”
7. “Spice Up Your Life”
8. “Too Much”
9. “Stop”
10. “Viva Forever”
11. “Let Love Lead the Way”
12. “Holler”
13. “Headlines”
14. “Goodbye”
