Lego is not new to working with music and musicians. There was the Lego Rock Band game way back in 2009 where acts like Blur, Queen and Iggy Pop got involved. There have also been two soundtrack albums – for The Lego Movie in 2014 and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part in 2019.
Things, however, moved up several gears in April 2020 when the company signed an exclusive global deal with Universal Music Group. Details at the time were scant beyond saying both companies were working on “a new suite of Lego products launching in 2021” that would be “created to encourage and inspire the next generation of musicians, creatives and fans”.
The first fruits have now arrived in the shape of Lego Vidiyo, which is an interactive video-creation tool aimed at children aged 7-10. They will be able to use audio from a number of Universal artists in their creations – a bit like TikTok but, as you will see, a bit more involved than that.
It all takes place inside an AR-enabled smartphone app where users can bring their Lego figures to life and add in digital effects and animations (X-ray vision, confetti showers etc.). It all draws on BeatBits which are tiny plastic tiles, each with a different design that operate as a kind of QR code through the phone’s camera lens, allowing users to unlock digital and audio effects.
It does not launch until March but the teaser video gives a good indication of what users can expect. “BeatBits unlock powerful special effects, sounds, props, dance moves and wild video effects while you record,” it says. “Choose from a wide variety of styles and genres to use as the soundtrack for your production. Select your BeatBits, scan your stage and record.”
Resulting videos (or, if we must, Vidiyos) can be shared online.
Often apps for kids are quite limited in what they can do, but this is a powerful creative tool for them to make 60-second videos incorporating all manner of visual and audio effects. Maybe if Michel Gondry had this app in 2002, the stop-motion video for The White Stripes’ ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ could have been made in a fraction of the time and for next to nothing.
