The Lego Group has teamed up with the Universal Music Group (UMG) to bring together the worlds of toys and music via a music video maker experience.

Lego Vidiyo enables children to direct, produce, star in, and share their own music videos using tracks from UMG’s catalogue of global artists. The experience is accessed through a combination of Lego elements, minifigures, music, augmented reality (AR), and a new app.

“We want to feed the imagination of the next generation of creatives, providing a new canvas for kids to creatively express themselves,” said Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer at the Lego Group. “Research shows over three quarters (79 per cent) of parents globally wish their children had more creative confidence, so we’re launching Lego Vidiyo to help make that happen. We know children are always chasing new ways to experiment creatively, and Lego Vidiyo is here to help all kids with a passion for music unleash their creativity through Lego building and music video production. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.”

The Vidiyo minifigures, launched alongside the app, can be customised and brought to life using AR technology. Meanwhile, new ‘BeatBits’ – which are two-by-two square Lego elements – enable young creators to unlock digital effects once scanned.

To further gamify the experience and keep children engaged, Lego says it will regularly add new music, challenges, and ‘inspirational’ content.

All clips uploaded to the app are moderated and any content featuring personally-identifiable information, such as children appearing in their own videos, will not be added to the app feed, but stored locally.

“Through this innovative global partnership – with the power of music and play harnessed to support early development of creativity – children around the globe will be able to express themselves as they stage, direct, perform, and share their music videos,” said Olivier Robert-Murphy, Executive Vice President at Universal Music Group and Brands. “Lego Vidiyo is a great way for millions of kids to discover new music and get closer to their favourite artists while learning and connecting through play.”