Ballroom Dancing

Photo By Gary Miller

Rock & Roll Is for Kids!

Austin Convention Center, Friday, March 16

The subject wasn't quite as the panel name suggested, but to the six panelists, it was music to the ears. Labels, musicians, and parents convened to talk about the lucrative yet underestimated genre of music made and packaged for kids, which is only partly rock & roll proper and more often folk or pop tunes. Yet as Razor & Tie exec Michael Krumper pointed out, music for kids has a much longer shelf life than its adult counterpart. R&T are deservedly proud: Since 2001 their Kidz Bop titles have sold more than 8 million albums and claimed eight gold LPs. Given the post-9/11 baby boom, many factors feed the growing appetite for the genre beyond Barney and Raffi, one being the proliferation of downloads. Moderator Holly George-Warren's active interest in it is thanks to her son and also her husband who, as "Uncle Rock," writes and records kids music. "If the kids love it, parents will buy it," she contends. Or at least whine for it.