HitClips is a digital audio player created by Tiger Electronics that plays low-fidelity mono one-minute clips of usually teen pop hits from exchangeable chip cartridges.[2] It first launched on August 11, 2000 in the United States,[3] with a McDonald’s and Jive Records promotional campaign selling the micro personal player with either “Stronger” by Britney Spears or “It’s Gonna Be Me” by NSYNC. The full HitClips lineup debuted on September 28, 2000 at retail stores, with an expanded lineup of music chips and players.[4][5] Later, a version for young children known as KidClips was launched.[6] Tiger Electronics had licensing agreements for HitClips with popular major record labels including Atlantic Records, Zomba Label Group (owners of Jive)[7] and Capitol Records.[8][9]
HitClips Discs are a circle-shaped variant of HitClips. The format requires a disc-compatible player, which launched on February 15, 2004,[1] alongside 20 singles.[10] By the end of the year, another 12 disc-based singles were released.
Hilary Duff became the spokeswoman for HitClips and VideoNow in 2003, with several of her songs featured in these toys’ lineups. In 2004, Raven became the new spokeswoman, with two of her songs receiving a HitClips Discs release by the year’s end.[11]
In February 2005, at the American International Toy Fair, Hasbro discontinued the HitClips lineup.[12] The company stated that it has “moved on” to VideoNow Color music videos as the successor to HitClips.[12]
Song list
HitClips has released a total of 159 singles from 84 artists.[13][10] Most of these used the original HitClips chip format, although 32 singles were released as HitClips Discs. Of the disc-based singles, 12 were available as both chips and discs, while 21 were disc-only releases.[10]
- Aaron Carter
- “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)“
- “I Want Candy“
- “Leave It Up to Me“
- “Not Too Young, Not Too Old“
- “Oh Aaron“
- “That’s How I Beat Shaq“
- Avril Lavigne
- “Complicated” †
- “Sk8er Boi” †
- Backstreet Boys
- “I Want It That Way“
- “Larger Than Life“
- “More than That“
- “Shape of My Heart“
- “The Call“
- Bow Wow and Baby
- “Let’s Get Down” ‡
- Britney Spears
- “…Baby One More Time“[8]
- “I’m a Slave 4 U“
- “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman“
- “Lucky“
- “Oops!… I Did It Again“
- “Overprotected“
- “Stronger“
- “(You Drive Me) Crazy“
- Clay Aiken
- “Invisible” ‡
- Dream Street
- “Gotta Get the Girl”
- “It Happens Every Time”
- Hilary Duff
- “Come Clean” ‡
- “I Can’t Wait” ‡
- “I Can’t Wait (Remix)“
- “So Yesterday” ‡
- “Why Not” †
- Hoku
- “Another Dumb Blonde“
- “How Do I Feel”
- Kelly Clarkson
- “A Moment Like This” ‡
- “Low” ‡
- Krystal Harris
- “Supergirl”
- Lindsay Pagano
- “Everything U R”
- Madonna
- “Cherish“
- “Don’t Tell Me“
- “Lucky Star“
- “Material Girl“
- “Music“
- “Hollywood” †
- “Ray of Light“
- Michelle Branch
- “All You Wanted“
- “Are You Happy Now?” ‡
- “Breathe” ‡
- “Everywhere“
- Nikki Cleary
- “1-2-3” ‡
- NSYNC
- “Bringin’ da Noise”
- “Bye Bye Bye“
- “Celebrity“
- “Girlfriend“
- “It’s Gonna Be Me“
- “No Strings Attached”
- “Pop“
- “This I Promise You“
- O-Town
- “All or Nothing“
- “Baby I Would”
- “These Are the Days”
- “We Fit Together“
- Play
- “Us Against The World”
- Raven
- “Grazin’ in the Grass” ‡
- “Supernatural” ‡
- “True to Your Heart” (cancelled) ‡ [verification needed]
- Simple Plan
- “Addicted” †
- “Perfect” ‡
- Smash Mouth
- “All Star” †
- “I’m a Believer” †
- “Pacific Coast Party”
- “Why Can’t We Be Friends“
- “You Are My Number One” ‡
- Solange
- “Crush”
- Sugar Ray
- “Answer the Phone”
- “Someday“
- “When It’s Over“
- the Beach Boys
- “California Girls” †
- “Fun, Fun, Fun” †
- “Good Vibrations” †
- The Jackson 5
- “ABC“
- “I Want You Back” ‡
- The Simpsons
- “Bart“
- “Homer“
- “People of Springfield”
- Tiktak
- “Upside Down”
- Triple Image and Jamie Lynn Spears
- “(Hey Now) Girls Just Want To Have Fun“
Notes:
† This single was available in both the original HitClips and the HitClips Disc formats.
‡ This single was exclusively released as a HitClips Disc.
Sales
- HitClips sold approximately 12 million players and music chips combined by the end of 2001.[14]
- By June 2002, HitClips total sales surpassed 20 million.[3]
- By December 2002, HitClips total sales surpassed 25 million.[15]
- By April 2003, HitClips total sales surpassed 30 million.[16]
See also
References
- ^ a b “HITCLIPS PLAYS THE SMALLEST MUSIC DISCS ON THE MARKET”. Hasbro. February 15, 2004. Archived from the original on March 5, 2004. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
- ^ Willis, Barry (2002-05-05). “HitClips Are Hot”. Stereophile. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ a b Traiman, Steve (June 15, 2002). “Licensing Likenesses: stars lend their faces to everything from dolls to ducks to video games” (PDF). Billboard. p. 71.
- ^ “Tiger Electronics Brings the Hottest Pop Stars Down to Chip Size With HitClips- a Revolutionary Micro Music Media System; FAO Schwarz Hosts Retail Debut”. Hasbro Corporate Information. September 27, 2000. Archived from the original on August 27, 2003. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ^ “Music Artists Hit Toy Market” (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 2001. p. 66.
- ^ Lee, Jennifer (2002-02-12). “Making Toys For Children Too Mature For Most Toys”. The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ “Jive Talking”. Forbes. 19 March 2001.
- ^ a b Kukec, Anna Marie (2000-09-28). “Tiger Electronics hopes music system is big hit with kids”. Daily Herald. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ Wasserman, Todd (2000-07-31). “Tiger’s HitClips Rings McD, Fox for $10M Blitz”. Brandweek. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ a b c “Collect HitClips (Discs)”. Hasbro. February 15, 2004. Archived from the original on February 17, 2004. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
- ^ Traiman, Steve (March 6, 2004). “Toy fair showcases new product by Kiss, others” (PDF). Billboard. p. 37.
- ^ a b Traiman, Steve (March 5, 2005). “Licensers Toy With Artists’ Images”. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 43–44. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
“Hasbro is phasing out its 3-year-old [sic] HitClips line of mini-electronics and music chips but will remain in the music field.
- ^ “Collect HitClips”. Hasbro. December 6, 2003. Archived from the original on December 6, 2003. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ^ Posner, Michael (December 22, 2001). “The year karaoke came to kindergarten”. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ^ “HITCLIPS Micro Music System Goes Multi-Platinum the Ultimate Stocking Stuffer — Hasbro’s Tiger Electronics Rocks the Toy Charts With 25 Million Music Chips Sold”. Harbro Corporate Information. December 9, 2002. Archived from the original on January 30, 2003. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
- ^ Traiman, Steve (April 5, 2003). “Music Still Offers Strong Toy Tie-Ins”. Billboard. p. 43. Retrieved April 23, 2026.