Children's music
Children's music | |
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Other names | Kids' music |
Stylistic origins |
Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment and educational functions. Children's music is often designed to provide an entertaining means of teaching children about their
History
Early published music
The growth of the popular music publishing industry, associated with New York's
Early recordings for children
Recordings for children were intertwined with recorded music for as long as it has existed as a medium. The first words ever recorded (in 1860 by
Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s record companies continued to produce albums for children. Such companies as
The role of Disney in children's cinema from the 1930s meant that it gained a unique place in the production of children's music. The first popular Disney song was 'Minnie's Yoo Hoo' (1930) the theme song from a
Growth during the 20th century
The mid-20th-century arrival of the baby boomers provided a growing market for children's music as a separate genre.
In the 1960s, as the baby boomers matured and became more politically aware, they embraced both the substance and politics of folk ("the people's") music.
Children's music gained an even wider audience in the 1970s when musical features such as
Disney also re-entered the market for animated musical features, beginning with
Recent history
In the United States, children's music continues to be a force in the commercial music industry. At one point in early 2006, the top three albums on the Billboard charts were all children's music: Disney's High School Musical soundtrack, the Kidz Bop series, and the Curious George film soundtrack.[4] Most albums targeted nationally to children are soundtracks for motion pictures or symbiotic marketing projects involving mass-marketed acts such as The Wiggles or VeggieTales (Christian).
The 21st century has also seen an increase in the number of independent children's music artists, with acts like
Sanitized versions of earthy songs like Harry McClintock's "
- In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you're going on a holiday
- Your birthday comes around once a week and it's Christmas every day
- You never have to clean your room or put your toys away
- There's a little white horse you can ride of course
- You can jump so high you can touch the sky
- In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
Many children's stores and sometimes music outlets sell covers of pop songs, performed by adults for children, especially Christmas songs. These were especially popular during the early 2000s.
The use of children's music, to educate, as well as entertain, continued to grow, as evidenced in February 2009, when Bobby Susser's young children's series surpassed five million CD sales.[5] In September 2016, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label acquired the Bobby Susser series, to further the exposure of children's music that teaches as well as entertains, throughout the world.[6]
As more children are using smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs, kids' songs have entered the on-demand streaming content era. On YouTube, some children's songs have surpassed 1 billion views, easily becoming some of the most viewed YouTube videos of all time.
See also
- Children's songs
- Bubblegum pop
References
- ^ E. C. Axford, Song Sheets to Software: A Guide to Print Music, Software, and Web Sites for Musicians (Scarecrow Press, 2004), p. 18.
- ^ van der Merwe, Peter. Roots of the Classical: The Popular Origins of Western Music (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 436.
- ^ a b c d D. A. Jasen, Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song (Taylor & Francis, 2003), p. 111-13.
- ^ "Billboard News". Billboard. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ Educational Dealer magazine, April 2009, Industry news section, page 34.
- Huff Post. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
Further reading
- Jarnow, Jill. All Ears: how to Choose and Use Recorded Music for Children. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. ISBN 0-14-011254-5
- Smith, Barbara, and Charles Smith. The Non-Musician's Guide to Children's Music, in series, I.C.L. Concept Book[s]. Glendale, Calif.: International Center for Learning, 1977. ISBN 0-8307-0492-2