While I'm on the whole Canada tip, I thought I'd draw your attention to a couple of notable playlists put together for the Bunch Family website originating out of Canada. They're for "March Break" (which we call "Spring Break" and must come a week or two before ours) and come courtesy of Dan Zanes and Broken Social Scene's Jason Collett. They're both kinda cool lists -- the easiest way to distinguish between the two lists is Marley-wise -- Dan votes for kid-friendly Ziggy, Jason for Bob. Oh, and Collett picks not one, but two Flaming Lips songs.
Also, Canada's a big country -- those lists are barely long enough to get you out of the Toronto suburbs, no?
Juno 2010 Children's Music Nominees Announced
Sure, I talk about the Grammy Awards (a lot), but let's not forget our neighbors to the north. That's right, the nominees for the 2010 Juno Awards have been announced, and I feel compelled to give props to the Juno Children's Album nominees...
Action Packed - Bobs & Lolo
I'm Me! - Charlie Hope
Love My New Shirt - Norman Foote
We Share the Earth - The Bee's Knees
Walk On - The Kerplunks
I've heard the Bobs & Lolo and Kerplunks disks, and they're not bad, but my favorite here is Charlie Hope's I'm Me!. Having said all that, even though the Kerplunks were nominated in this category just last year, I expect the Juno to go to veterans Foote or The Bee's Knees.
The Juno Awards will be announced April 18, 2010.
KidVid Tournament 2010: You Set the Bracket (Mostly)
Yes, folks, it's KidVid Tournament time. And I need your help.
You may remember that I picked out my 20 favorite kids music videos of 2009 last week. I hope you were paying attention, because now I need your help setting up the brackets for KidVid Tournament 2010.
In the poll below, I'm asking you to vote for up to 15 of your favorite videos. The 15 that get the most votes will be placed in the KidVid Tournament 2010 bracket and I'll pay attention to the vote counts in determining the all important seeding.
A couple additional notes:
1) Why 15? Well, I've got to make sure that if you, my loyal public, completely miss the boat on a video (or if a video misses out by, say, 1 vote), I have a just a little bit of control.
2) The eagle-eyed among you will notice that Secret Agent 23 Skidoo's video for "Family Tree" is missing from the poll. That's because I have a rule that prior winners have to take at least one year off. Skidoo got more than 500 votes in last year's epic KidVid Tournament 2009 final against the The Jimmies. If he were in again this year, he'd probably win, and what's the fun in that? I'm sure he'll be back.
Anyway, voting ends Wednesday night, and one vote per household please. The poll is below, and in case you need to be reminded, all the videos follow the poll in a handy playlist format. Thanks!
Zooglobble's 20 Favorite Kids Music Videos of 2009 [YouTube]
Remind: Ziggy, Elizabeth, (Daniel), and Jay. Tonight.
A quick reminder that Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton join Ziggy Marley on the Tonight Show, er, tonight (March 15). They'll be helping out with "I Love You Too" from Marley's Grammy-winning album Family Time. It's not the song that Mitchell helped out with on the album, but it'll do. Here's another version of the track to get you in the mood...
Ziggy Marley - "I Love You Too" [YouTube]
Do Kids' Musicians Get the Royal(ty) Treatment or Royalty Screwed?
Some posts are meant to be.
A couple weeks back, when I started Zooglobble Radio (go listen now, really), I got into a brief discussion with another person in the industry involved in terrestrial radio in some way. They reported their playlists, but expressed doubt that it was really benefitting the artists they played on the station. They mentioned one artist in particular that they'd played literally dozens if not hundreds of times that had never received a single royalty check. (I chose Live365 in large part because I wanted to make sure artists got paid, and they're the only internet radio provider that provides full SoundExchange payment.)
So when I saw this Los Angeles Times article about royalty payments paid by SoundExchange, a non-profit group created by Congress to distribute royalties from digital and satellite media streams, I thought this might be of interest.
And then I read the first paragraphs:
When John Boydston got an e-mail from SoundExchange saying he had several thousand dollars in unclaimed royalties, he did what most sensible people would do. He ignored it. To the rock musician from Atlanta, "money for nothing" meant a song by Dire Straits, not a stranger contacting him out of the blue promising to cut him big checks. But then he got the message again six months later. Curious, he called SoundExchange. "Sure enough, they had a sizable amount of money for me," said Boydston, 51, whose band Daddy a Go Go includes his two teenage sons. "It was several thousand dollars. That's not a ton of money. But for a guy who makes CDs in his basement, it was enough to finance my next album."That's right, that's SXSW artist Daddy A Go Go there. So here's my question for you, kid rockers -- is SoundExchange a major part of your income stream, a minor part, or no part at all? And if so, why (or why not)?
This Oran Etkin / Putumayo Kids Thing Might Just Work Out
Seriously, check out Oran Etkin, whose duet with Charenee Wade on "Little Lamb Jam" is featured on the latest Putumayo Kids disk, Jazz Playground. I don't need much more than a tuba and Dizzy's "Salt Peanuts" to make me happy, and this collection of bits from a recent Jazz Playground Concert Tour concert in Philly has both. Let there be a long, fruitful partnership.
Video from Etkin (plus a bonus video from the album) after the jump...
