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

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...

, other cultures, good behavior, facts and skills. Many are

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

s, but there is a whole genre of educational music that has become increasingly popular.

History

Early published music

The growth of the popular music publishing industry, associated with New York's

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to the creation of a number of songs aimed at children. These included 'Ten little fingers and ten little toes' by Ira Shuster and Edward G. Nelson and ' School Days' (1907) by Gus Edwards and Will Cobb . Perhaps the best remembered now is " Teddy Bears' Picnic", with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy in 1932 and the tune by British composer John William Bratton was from 1907.

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 Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville) was the first verse of the French folk/children's song " Au Clair de la Lune". In 1888, the first recorded discs (called "plates") offered for sale included

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howev ...

nursery rhymes. The earliest record catalogues of several seminal figures in the recording industry such as Edison, Berliner, and Victor all contained separate children's sections. Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s record companies continued to produce albums for children. Such companies as

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

(among others) published albums based on popular cartoons or nursery rhymes. Recordings based on

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

films and cartoons were released at that time by RCA Victor and Capitol Records, and beginning in the late 1950s by Disneyland Records and Buena Vista Records. Often the albums were read-alongs that contained booklets that children could follow along with. Many of the biggest names in theater, radio, and motion pictures were featured on these albums, such as:

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, Harold Peary ("The Great Gildersleeve"),

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier ('' The Love Parade'', '' Love Me Tonight'', '' The Merry Widow'' and '' ...

, Roy Rogers, Fanny Brice,

William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...

("Hopalong Cassidy"),

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary '' Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is ofte ...

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, an ...

, and

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, ...

. 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 Mickey Mouse cartoon.D. A. Jasen, ''Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song'' (Taylor & Francis, 2003), p. 111-13. After the production of their first feature-length animation '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' in 1937, with its highly successful score by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey, which included the songs "

Whistle While You Work "Whistle While You Work" is a song with music written by Frank Churchill and lyrics written by Larry Morey for the 1937 animated Disney film '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. It was performed in the film by voice actress Adriana Caselotti ...

", " Some Day My Prince Will Come" and " Heigh-Ho", the mould for a combination of animation, fairy tale and distinctive songs was set that would carry through to the 1970s with songs from films such as ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' (1940) and ''

Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson; produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the Uncle Remus stories as adapted by J ...

'' (1946).

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.

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, American socialism and anti-fascism. He ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

and Ella Jenkins were among a cadre of politically progressive and socially conscious performers who aimed albums to this group. During this time, such novelty recordings as "

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

" (a Montgomery Ward jingle that became a book and later a classic children's movie) and the fictional music group, The Chipmunks, were among the most commercially successful music ventures of the time ("The Chipmunk Song" was a No. 1 hit single in 1958). TV personality Bob Keeshan ('' Captain Kangaroo'') recorded several children's albums, as did

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...

. 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. Peter, Paul, and Mary, The Limeliters, and

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.Children's Television Workshop in the U.S. launched ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...

''. The quality of ''Sesame Street''s children's music, much of it created by noted composers Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss, has dominated the children's music landscape to this day - the show has won 11

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. Children's music gained an even wider audience in the 1970s when musical features such as ''

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated Musical film, musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday-morning cartoon, Saturday morning children's programming block on the ...

'' and the original Letter People were featured on network and public television, respectively. These represented an effort to make music that taught specific lessons about math, history, and English to youngsters through the high-quality, award-winning music. The classic PBS children's show '' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' had music heavily featured as well. In the late 1970s, Canadian artist Raffi, coincided with the rise of children's music as a distinct

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, trai ...

genre. Musical duo

Greg & Steve Greg & Steve are a musical duo based in Los Angeles, California. The duo, composed of Greg Scelsa (born October 29, 1947) and Steve Millang (born May 10, 1947), has been performing and recording children's music since the late 1970s. Scelsa and Mil ...

have focused on the positive reaction children have to music. And former Limeliter Red Grammer has performed his children's music in every state as well as 22 other countries. Disney also re-entered the market for animated musical features, beginning with '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989) from which the song " Under the Sea" won an Oscar for best song. This was followed by successful features including ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...

'' (1991) ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

'' (1992), and ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, ...

'' (1994), the last of which had music by British singer

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and Tim Rice, and ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter o ...

'' (1995), all of which were awarded best song Oscars.

Recent history

In the United States, children's music continues to be a force in the commercial

. At one point in early 2006, the top three albums on the Billboard charts were all children's music:

's ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, ...

'' soundtrack, the '' Kidz Bop'' series, and the '' Curious George'' film soundtrack. Most albums targeted nationally to children are soundtracks for motion pictures or symbiotic marketing projects involving mass-marketed acts such as,

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, ...

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, computer generated musical children's animation, and book franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series sees fruit and vegetable characters retel ...

(Christian). The 21st century has also seen an increase in the number of independent children's music artists, with acts like The Dirty Sock Funtime Band,

Dan Zanes Daniel Edgerly Zanes (born November 8, 1961) is an American former member of the popular 1980s band the Del Fuegos and is now the front man of the Grammy-winning group Dan Zanes and Friends. History Zanes's father was a teacher, as well as a p ...

Parachute Express Parachute Express was an American band of three California-based entertainers who performed, wrote, and produced music for children. Members were Stephen Michael Schwartz, Janice Hubbard, and Donny Becker. Parachute Express gained national prominen ...

, Cathy Bollinger, Laurie Berkner and

Lah-Lah Lah-Lah is a five-member children's music group from Sydney, Australia. Lah-Lah has both recorded albums and filmed television content, and also performs at live events. The music of ''Lah-Lah'' ranges in styles from world music and surf-rock to ...

getting wide exposure on cable TV channels targeted to children. Trout Fishing in America has achieved much acclaim continuing the tradition of merging sophisticated folk music with family-friendly lyrics. Father Goose Music known as The King Of The Dance Party gives a mixture of Ska, Reggae, calypso and Hip-Hop while

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo Secret Agent 23 Skidoo or (SAS23) is a Grammy Award-winning hip-hop musician from Asheville, North Carolina. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo has been performing children's music since 2008. He performs hip-hop for children. After a decade of touring n ...

infuses hip-hop with family friendly messages and imaginative stories and is known as "The King of Kid-Hop". Also recently, traditionally rock-oriented acts like

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

have released albums marketed directly to children, such as '' No!'' and '' Here Come the ABCs''.

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

simply remade his " Cheeseburger in Paradise" song into children's music with cleaned up lyrics ("Root Beer" instead of "Draft Beer"). His songs were already kid friendly with catchy lyrics and simple melodies punctuated with penny whistles and ship bell sound effects. Conversely, Koo Koo Kanga Roo, a children-oriented comedy

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

duo, made a successful crossover from performing children's events into touring with adult rock and punk bands such as

Reel Big Fish Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Orange County, California. The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold-certified album '' Turn the Radio Off''. Soon ...

and

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

. In Canada, artists such as The Kerplunks and The Oot n' Oots have paved modern pathways to the genre following in the footsteps of Raffi,

Fred Penner Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner (born November 6, 1946) is a Canadian children's entertainer and musician known for the song " The Cat Came Back" and his television series, '' Fred Penner's Place'', which aired on CBC in Canada from 1985 to 19 ...

and Sharon, Lois & Bram. Sanitized versions of earthy songs like Harry McClintock's " Big Rock Candy Mountain" have regularly been adapted for younger audiences. The 2008 version by Gil McLachlan re-tells the story as a child's dream, the last stanza being: :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 Bobby Susser (born Robert Howard Susser, July 18, 1942 – September 15, 2020), and also known as Bob Susser, was an American songwriter, record producer, and performer, best known for his young children's music. Among some of his several honors ...

's young children's series surpassed five million CD sales. In September 2016, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label acquired the

series, to further the exposure of children's music that teaches as well as entertains, throughout the world. 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.

History

Early published music

Early recordings for children

Growth during the 20th century

Recent history

See also

References

Further reading