What is the first song you can remember liking?
Was it something your parents put on at home or in the car? Something your teacher taught you or played during class in elementary school? Something you heard in a cartoon or movie that you loved?
Was it music for adults, or was it made especially for kids? Why do you think it caught your ear?
In “Don’t Look Now, but Kidz Boppers Have Graduated From College,” Sopan Deb writes about Kidz Bop, the brand that, for more than two decades, has turned pop hits into kid-friendly tunes. The article begins:
They sure do grow up quickly, don’t they?
Last week marked a milestone for the children’s brand Kidz Bop: The release of “Kidz Bop 50,” the company’s 50th album of sanitized, child-friendly covers of pop songs.
The songs are sung by a small group of telegenic teenagers, who also appear in carefully choreographed music videos. The latest record has 38 tracks, including the Sabrina Carpenter hit “Espresso,” Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” and Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby.”
Time flies. In the case of Kidz Bop, which launched in 2001 and included millennial anthems like NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” and Blink-182’s “All the Small Things,” the first generation that grew up with G-rated earworms is now in full-fledged adulthood. Kidz Bop is almost old enough to no longer be eligible for its parents’ health insurance. It’s been an improbable ride for the world’s most unexpectedly successful cover band.
The article also delves into possible reasons for the company’s successful run:
“It’s pretty simple why Kidz Bop continues to resonate and have appeal after almost 25 years,” Sasha Junk, the president of Kidz Bop, said. “I can kind of boil it down to one word: It’s fun. And kids love to hear other kids sing.”
Kidz Bop was the brainchild of two lawyers, Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam, who had previously formed the independent record company Razor & Tie in 1990, then known for compilations.
“We saw that there was a gap between music for tiny kids — Barney and all that — and pop music that wasn’t safe for 4-to-12-year-old kids,” Chenfeld told The New York Times in 2006. “We thought it made sense to bring pop music to those people.” (Both Chenfield and Balsam left Kidz Bop in 2018 and could not be reached for comment.)
It appealed to parents of children like Elise, who said Kidz Bop was “all I listened to” before she auditioned for the group, “because I couldn’t listen to anything else.”
Dana Vaughns, a 27-year-old alumnus who is now an actor, Kidz Bopped for about three years from age 11, and said he was blissfully unaware that the lyrics he was singing were sometimes not the original.
“I probably needed the adjustment of those lyrics anyway. I was the demographic!” he said with a laugh.
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
Was Kidz Bop part of your life when you were younger? If so, did you realize you were listening to G-rated versions of songs made popular by other artists? Was it a good way to bring pop music to your age group?
What are your childhood memories of music? What songs or artists did you love? Who introduced you to that music? Who was there to listen and maybe even sing along with you?
Were there rules in your family about the type of music you were allowed to listen to? Are there still? If so, how fair do you think those rules were or are?
What advice do you have for parents of younger children when it comes to music? Should they be concerned about lyrics that use profanity; that make reference to things like sex, drinking, drugs or violence; or that are sexist, racist or otherwise cruel? At what age should children be able to make their own choices about the music they listen to?
Do you ever listen to kids’ music now, perhaps with younger siblings or children you babysit? What do you think about it? Do you find it annoying? Are there any songs you still enjoy? If you like, check out this editor’s collection of 9 Children’s Songs Worth a Listen. What would you add to the list?
