Do Children Deserve Better?

Back in May last year, Canadian musician Grimes had this to say about children's music: 'People who don't have kids don't realise the insidious artistic scourge that is "children's music". How can we heal as a society when everyone's earliest artistic experience is completely devoid of humanity or beauty? Half joking but kinda not.' Yes, pretty provocative I agree, and such a controversial assertion that clearly brought her a modicum of notoriety as a result. I can't imagine it concerned her much though, as she temporarily basked in the sunshine of transient outrage. As Oscar Wilde once famously declared: 'The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about'.

Nonetheless, the question still remains, is she right or is she wrong? Surprisingly, I would argue that she is both right and wrong; although such ambivalence may come as a surprise to anyone familiar with this blog. Grimes is clearly wrong, when you consider the delicate beauty of Claudia Robin Gunn, the imaginative zest of Poco Drom, or the enlightening energy of Joanie Leeds. These artists are amongst a growing number of emerging musicians across the globe, who have clearly succeeded in elevating children's music to new heights. 

However, I largely agree with Grimes in the sense that family music seems to contain more than its fair share of vacuous repetition. I'm sure most people will have come across the song 'Baby Shark'; currently the most popular video on YouTube of all time, with over fourteen billion views to date. There is undoubtedly an addictive ingredient to these types of tunes, which are often cynically targeted, rehashed and presented to children across the internet. Surely this raises the question, does the genre really need another version of "Baby Shark"? If your answer is yes, then clearly Grimes had a point. 

Having said that, there is plenty of evidence that children enjoy singing simple tunes and tend to respond to catchy ditties. There are also undoubtedly many language development opportunities contained in this type of music, particularly for younger children, that assist with cognitive development. However, shouldn't musicians at least try to expose the public at large to something different? Remember how JK Rowling transcended children's literature through the Harry Potter series. Or how Queen managed to disrupt the snobbery of the classical music establishment with their prog rock anthem Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Furthermore, it's not just children's music which is vulnerable to such criticism, and derided as a homogenous entity. Mick Jagger once famously sang, 'it's only rock 'n' roll but I like it', well, so did their fans, it was a superb song written by a legendary band that stood the test of time. Nonetheless, as with every genre there is always a polar opposite lurking in the shadows. For every Beatles there's a Monkees, for every Marc Bolan there's an Alvin Stardust, and for every Abba there's a Brotherhood of Man.

Now this is only an opinion so no emails please, but it begs the question, are we doing children and their parents a disservice, continually dishing out this ubiquitous repetition, or do they deserve better?  I appreciate we all have to make a living somehow, and accept that there are sometimes certain financial imperatives at stake. If you are in the business of simply making a profit through music and this is how you want to go about it, then who am I to argue, burn me in hell as long as it pays. Just don't expect artists such as Grimes or anyone else for that matter to respect it.  

Baby Shark - money for nothing and your clicks for free.