Barney’s Rubble

Regarding Lynne Heffley’s “Trouble on the Tot Charts” (Aug. 8):

Once again, children’s entertainment takes a back seat to other, more “viable” business interests. It is consistent, however, when you consider that we have created a society in which actors, sports figures and rock stars break salary records while teachers remain grossly underpaid.

While today’s home audio components are of unprecedented quality, record labels are still afraid to let the music stand on its own without the support of the Faustian device we call TV.

The artists of the genre are not entirely without fault. Much of today’s material consists of poorly produced rehashes of old classics, rap versions of nursery rhymes and insultingly mundane lyrics put to old songs in the public domain.

And talk about crossover potential! If one were to mix the production values of a Michael Jackson-Quincy Jones song with the meaningful lyrical content of a piece by Fred Rogers, the labels would see product that challenges children as well as their coveted sales records.

WALLY WINGERT

Culver City

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Other than the already-famous Little Richard and Cheech Marin, children’s performers basically fall into two categories: guy with a guitar (Raffi type) or perky young mom (Joanie Bartels type).

My label, Bright Ideas, features Kevin-Anthony, who is African-American and American Indian, and vocalist Andre Garner, who is also African-American.

Our label was developed with a mission: to promote self-esteem in children. No “hippo-in-the-bathtub” nonsense songs for us.

If it sounds like I’m tooting our own horn, I am! Who else will?

LISA MARIE NELSON

President

Bright Ideas Productions

Westlake Village

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There is an assumption that, with proper promotion, what works for the traditional audio hit business should also apply to children’s programming.

The kids want the songs, not necessarily the artists who sing them. My 3-year-old daughter only cares that she hears “Wheels on the Bus” in tune with the right words, which can sometimes be a problem for her father.

Price Stern Sloan’s “Wee Sing,” Golden Entertainment’s “Sesame Street” and the Random House kids’ audio library see the bulk of their sales in book and specialty stores, not traditional record stores. Until there is a dramatic change, the typical record store will never be the primary place for kids’ audio.

All of us in the industry who have a stake in traditional audio retailing are hoping that the test between Tower Records and Silo Distribution, with Silo assisting in the merchandising of a deep-catalogue kids audio department, will be successful.

STEVEN ADES

President

Fast Forward Marketing

Santa Monica