Music alternative to Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus?

[2squared]

Can anyone help me with a tasteful alternative for my 7yo? We just aren't doing the Hannah Montana thing. My 7yo loves music, and she wants someone fun and not babyish to listen to. She prefers females voices. I know nothing about popular music. Is Taylor Swift a viable option? Any others??

[JoyfulMama]

If you're not a fan of Miley Cyrus, then I don't think you'll think much of Taylor Swift. But I'm not exactly sure what you are specifically uncomfortable with - maybe it would help to google "lyrics" with a name, and you can browse content.

[6packofun]

If you're not opposed to a Christian artist, our girls love Britt Nicole.

[Unicorn.]

If you're not a fan of Miley Cyrus, then I don't think you'll think much of Taylor Swift. But I'm not exactly sure what you are specifically uncomfortable with - maybe it would help to google "lyrics" with a name, and you can browse content.

 

I disagree. I hate my dd's Miley Cyrus cd's, but I actually like their Taylor Swift cd's. Carrie Underwood is great.

[chaik76]

I disagree. I hate my dd's Miley Cyrus cd's, but I actually like their Taylor Swift cd's. Carrie Underwood is great.

Carrie Underwood is the one who did "Before He Cheats..." though...so I think the OP might just have to look closely at every artist and maybe allow only specific songs.

[mrsrevmeg]

If you are interested in Christian artists, BarlowGirl would be great. They have a lot of upbeat, happy songs and good role-model type for girls. (one song is about dressing modestly-Clothes that fit are fiiiiiine/ won't show you miiiiine) My kids are boys and they like BarlowGirl.

Edited October 24, 2009 by mrsrevmeg

[AngieW in Texas]

We like Aly and AJ. My 11yo also likes Selena Gomez a lot. I actually like Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus cds. My Hannah can't stand her though. I think being called Hannah Montana by every person she introduced herself to finally got to her.

 

We have gotten burned a couple of time when we've heard a song we liked on the radio and then bought it on iTunes. After listening to it on the ipod, we discovered that the version on the radio was edited and the version on iTunes was not. While you can listen to a little snippet of the song on iTunes, the offensive language isn't always on the snippet. My 11yo loved the song Hot-n-Cold on the radio, but when we downloaded it on iTunes, it had language that hadn't been on the radio version.

Edited October 24, 2009 by AngieW in Texas

[Unicorn.]

Carrie Underwood is the one who did "Before He Cheats..." though...so I think the OP might just have to look closely at every artist and maybe allow only specific songs.

 

I was thinking of "Jesus take the Wheel", but Looking at specific songs is always great advice. Ds saved up to buy a Big and Rich album when he was 10 because he liked the song "The 8th of November". He totally regretted it becuase the rest of the album had lots of cussing. :tongue_smilie:

[pbjmeyer]

If you're not opposed to a Christian artist, our girls love Britt Nicole.

 

Crystal Meyers, Superchik, and Barlow Girl. My son, age 12, loves these. He tends to like girls voices in music. Brit Nicole is also a favorite.

 

Our Christian book store has a section where you can listen to the CD before buying, like the secular stores allow. This way you can pre=listen.

[IsabelC]

Would she like classical, folk or jazz music? Or were you specifically looking for pop music?

[E_Edgerton]

Tori Amos, Dawn Landes, Ani Difranco, PJ Harvey, Alicia Keyes, PJ Harvey, Allison Mosshart. Peita Brown.

[Julie in Monterey]

It depends what she likes. We love the Beach Boys, The Beatles in terms of grown up artists.

 

There is a wide variety of artists that are just for kids that our whole family enjoys. You know the stuff that is "clean" and even educational and fun in content but zippy and fun enough for grown up ears. I'm amazed at the quality of kids music now days. I just remember Burl Ives and Alvin the Chipmunks.

 

My 9 year old still loves all this music (most we found at the local library);

 

artist albumn

They Might Be Giants- No! - really zany lyrics

Dan Zanes Hello, Hello!

Dan Zanes Nighttime

Dan Zanes and Friends Family Dance

Banana Slug Band Adventures on the Air Cycle

Goin Wild

Wings of Slumber

Buckwheat Zydeco ChooChoo Boogaloo

Howard Hanger and Jazz Fantasy Dog Breath and other songs

Jessica Harper Nora's Room

Laurie Berkner Victor Vito

Buzz, Buzz

Under a Shady Tree

Whaddaya Think of That?

Lisa Loeb Catch the Moon

The Persuasions Good Ship Lollypop

Taj Mahal/ Linda Tillery and Shakin a Tailfeather

the Cultural Heritage Choir

 

 

There are some soundtracks that we also really enjoy;

 

artist albumn

Jack Johnson & Friends Sing-a-longs and Lullabies for the

film Curious George

various Because of Winn-Dixie

various O Brother, Where Art Thou?

various Mary Poppins

 

 

We also have downloaded several Jackson Five tunes for our "family dance" nights.

 

I hope this helps. Don't forget to use your local library. We've downloaded quite a bit to our Itunes and to Ipods.

 

Julie in Monterey

[Julie in Monterey]

In the previous post, I listed the name of the artist and the album names followed. When I posted, they all kind of ran together.

 

Julie in Monterey

[2squared]

Would she like classical, folk or jazz music? Or were you specifically looking for pop music?

 

Just upbeat and fun, not necessarily pop music. I have some country music that she enjoys, and some Shania Twain that she has, unfortunately, memorized already. :glare: I need a better selection.

 

Since she's only 7yo, I don't want her to start getting sucked into the pop idol stuff. If she's loving Miley Cyrus now, she'll be following all of Miley's boyfriend antics by the time she's 10yo. Not cool. I want her to be sheltered for a while longer. A few months ago my dd tried telling me that the Jonas brothers make her feel silly inside. :001_huh: Yeah, that made my momma heart stop for a minute. She's way to young!!

 

Christian music is fabulous.

 

Thank you for all the ideas. Off to start researching.

[Bess]

Tori Amos, Dawn Landes, Ani Difranco, PJ Harvey, Alicia Keyes, PJ Harvey, Allison Mosshart. Peita Brown.

 

Are you serious?!! Do you really think some of these would be appropriate for a 7 year old? I'm in my thirties and even *I* find some of these people offensive.

[PineFarmMom]

I agree with Britt Nicole and Barlow Girl. Selena Gomez is fine too, so far anyway.

 

My 14yo doesn't really listen to Disney-type music anymore, but she and a few girls in her youth group are completely put out with Miley Cyrus these days because of how she's turned so sleezy in her videos and behavior and promotes herself to little girls. :(

[ConnieB]

Are you serious?!! Do you really think some of these would be appropriate for a 7 year old? I'm in my thirties and even *I* find some of these people offensive.

 

 

I was wondering the same thing...I'd never heard of any of these so went to look for them at my library....first one I look up is Tori Amos and the only album they have of her is called Abnormally Attracted to Sin and the cover of the CD is her stretched out in what could be construed as suggestively. So I was just coming back to ask if anyone else gets so confused by titles of songs and albums....some of them sound innocent and are anything but, and then ones like this one are suggested as being innocent but wowzer the titles don't give that impression. And Dawn Landes album has songs titled Private Little H*ll and Goodnight Lover.

 

I guess everyone's idea of appropriate music is different.....I too wish we could listen to more of an album before borrowing/buying. But I guess copyright laws don't make that possible. So, I guess I'm stuck with my current system...........continue borrowing albums from the library that the kids request and prelistening to them before I let them have them. No buying albums unless I can hear the entire playlist first (which typically means borrowed from the library....seeing a pattern here, lol).

 

Well, the good news is that since we can only have the album for 3 weeks from the library at least we have an ever changing playlist, because most times I don't want to listen to the same song more than a dozen times in the same week, lol. I hated radio growing up because it was the same top 50 time and time and time again.

[Katrina J]

Mine like ABBA. I've bought them some kids' mix compilation CDs but they keep going back to ABBA. DD7 loves to sing along and dance, and now when DS4 goes to the toilet and needs some help he calls out, "Mama Mia, Here I go again..." - it was funny at first.:001_smile:

[mrsrevmeg]

Mine like ABBA. ... and now when DS4 goes to the toilet and needs some help he calls out, "Mama Mia, Here I go again..." - it was funny at first.:001_smile:

 

That is too cute!!

[LauraGB]

I guess everyone's idea of appropriate music is different.....I too wish we could listen to more of an album before borrowing/buying. But I guess copyright laws don't make that possible. So, I guess I'm stuck with my current system...........continue borrowing albums from the library that the kids request and prelistening to them before I let them have them. No buying albums unless I can hear the entire playlist first (which typically means borrowed from the library....seeing a pattern here, lol).

 

 

 

My dc say there is a website called Rhapsody where you can listen to the song in its entirety. I think you get to listen to 25 per month. (I've not done it, but they say it is so.) They listen to it there, and buy the individual song from Amazon.

 

For the most part, for new music, we buy it on a song by song basis, and I need to preapprove it. But the older music (ahem, you know, from back in the 1900s) specifically the Oldies are safe and fun, especially at 7 years old.

 

They also like the parody guys like Weird Al and Tim Hawkins.

[Kelli in TN]

My daughter really likes a Christian group called Pure NRG. She also likes Superchic(k), Toby Mac, Taylor Swift among others. Her first (and only, thus far) concert was Superchic(k) and I lost that girl to the mosh pit for the evening. She had a blast!

 

 

http://www.todayschristianmusic.com/Article.asp?id=820606&spid=18443

[TN Mama]

 

I guess everyone's idea of appropriate music is different.....I too wish we could listen to more of an album before borrowing/buying. But I guess copyright laws don't make that possible. So, I guess I'm stuck with my current system...........continue borrowing albums from the library that the kids request and prelistening to them before I let them have them. No buying albums unless I can hear the entire playlist first (which typically means borrowed from the library....seeing a pattern here, lol).

 

 

What I've done in the past is to listen to a song on YouTube. They have several full versions of songs (and obviously) videos. The songs I like I then download from iTunes and create a cd for my daughter. She's getting an mp3 player for Christmas, so I'll be able to skip the cd making process. I haven't listened to the whole Taylor Swift cd, but she does have some appropriate songs and I also agree with Brit Nicole & BarlowGirl. My girls also love Casting Crowns, Third Day, TobyMac, Brandon Heath and Nichole Nordeman. Oh and George Strait.

 

ETA: Francesca Battistelli (sp?) is also another great one!

[jfletcher8091]

My 8 year old daughter loves Taylor Swift and also Faith Hill.

[SheWillFly]

My 7 year old daughter loves

Jump 5

Rubyz

PurNRG

 

She also likes BarlowGirl but not as much.

[fivetails]

 

My 14yo doesn't really listen to Disney-type music anymore, but she and a few girls in her youth group are completely put out with Miley Cyrus these days because of how she's turned so sleezy in her videos and behavior and promotes herself to little girls. :(

 

Yep - dd12 came running upstairs the other day and said "You have GOT to look this up on youtube!" with a horrified look on her face -- she'd just seen Miley's video for

{link to youtube vid} on Family channel and wasn't impressed at all.

[PineFarmMom]

Yep - dd12 came running upstairs the other day and said "You have GOT to look this up on youtube!" with a horrified look on her face -- she'd just seen Miley's video for

{link to youtube vid} on Family channel and wasn't impressed at all.

 

THAT is the one that put dd over the edge!!

 

What is funny is that 2 or 3 years ago when she came out with Hannah Montana, dd (at 11 or 12) said she wouldn't be like all those other Disney stars and wind up overly sexualized. I remember telling her that I sure hoped not and would pray she didn't and how sweet and cute and funny I thought she was. I told her not to be disappointed if she did, though, because Disney has a track record of turning out that type of artist in the end. I think she is seeing the truth of that now. Her best friend's dad told the friend the same thing I did my dd. lol

[Kelli in TN]

Yep - dd12 came running upstairs the other day and said "You have GOT to look this up on youtube!" with a horrified look on her face -- she'd just seen Miley's video for

{link to youtube vid} on Family channel and wasn't impressed at all.

 

Yikes.

 

Nope, that's NOT what I like influencing my girlie. I liked the younger Hannah Montana just fine, but I knew from years of Disney channel stuff that she would want to move her career beyond teeny bopper eventually.

 

It's not a nasty video by comparison to many that parents would instinctively avoid, but since her audience tends to be young girls it would be easier for parents to miss this and think it's okay since it's Miley.

[Kelli in TN]

THAT is the one that put dd over the edge!!

 

What is funny is that 2 or 3 years ago when she came out with Hannah Montana, dd (at 11 or 12) said she wouldn't be like all those other Disney stars and wind up overly sexualized. I remember telling her that I sure hoped not and would pray she didn't and how sweet and cute and funny I thought she was. I told her not to be disappointed if she did, though, because Disney has a track record of turning out that type of artist in the end. I think she is seeing the truth of that now. Her best friend's dad told the friend the same thing I did my dd. lol

 

Well, I could have saved all the typing and just held up this: :iagree:

[Julie in CA]

I guess everyone's idea of appropriate music is different.....I too wish we could listen to more of an album before borrowing/buying. But I guess copyright laws don't make that possible. So, I guess I'm stuck with my current system...........continue borrowing albums from the library that the kids request and prelistening to them before I let them have them. No buying albums unless I can hear the entire playlist first (which typically means borrowed from the library....seeing a pattern here, lol).

 

Playlist.com is really nice for this. You can search by song or by artist, add whichever songs you'd like to hear, and then they'll play all of them. It's easy to edit the list to remove songs/artists and add different ones. It's free to use, and I haven't had any privacy/spam issues from them.

[mrsrevmeg]

My dc say there is a website called Rhapsody where you can listen to the song in its entirety. I think you get to listen to 25 per month. (I've not done it, but they say it is so.)

 

.

 

We LOVE Rhapsody! We have a subscription. For $12.99 (I think) we listen to unlimited amounts of music. Our downloads are $.99 each. They have every type of music you can imagine! Oldies, new stuff, classical, pop, Christian, non-Christian, you name it, they probably have it. We use it for school when we need a song to go with something, or our composer studies.

[Mommy22alyns]

My girls listen to what I listen to - lots of classic rock, A/C, etc. We're not Christian, but Rebecca St. James is fantastic - great music, amazing role model. Avalon is great pop too, and adult friendly as well.

 

We do like Kelly Clarkson - I'd rather her than HM/MC just because HM is so hard pushed at little girls and with KC they can just listen to the music without doing the whole video/doll/t-shirt thing.

[Mommyof4ks]

We like Aly and AJ. My 11yo also likes Selena Gomez a lot. I actually like Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus cds. My Hannah can't stand her though. I think being called Hannah Montana by every person she introduced herself to finally got to her.

 

We have gotten burned a couple of time when we've heard a song we liked on the radio and then bought it on iTunes. After listening to it on the ipod, we discovered that the version on the radio was edited and the version on iTunes was not. While you can listen to a little snippet of the song on iTunes, the offensive language isn't always on the snippet. My 11yo loved the song Hot-n-Cold on the radio, but when we downloaded it on iTunes, it had language that hadn't been on the radio version.

 

This happened to us a few times also. It would be nice if they would say something like 'unedited' or something to give us a clue. Grr...

[Mommyof4ks]

What I've done in the past is to listen to a song on YouTube. They have several full versions of songs (and obviously) videos. The songs I like I then download from iTunes and create a cd for my daughter. She's getting an mp3 player for Christmas, so I'll be able to skip the cd making process. I haven't listened to the whole Taylor Swift cd, but she does have some appropriate songs and I also agree with Brit Nicole & BarlowGirl. My girls also love Casting Crowns, Third Day, TobyMac, Brandon Heath and Nichole Nordeman. Oh and George Strait.

 

ETA: Francesca Battistelli (sp?) is also another great one!

 

These are on our playlist as well with lots of 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s hits. Yes, some of the songs focus on love, divorce, and so on, but they are not sleazy (sp?).

 

I have found that listening to songs is not the problem, but watching videos and reading those annoying teen magazines is the issue. My dd9 does not have a clue what HM or anyone else is doing on their own time, she just likes the music. Some of her friends are obsessed with HM every move, because they watch the news on MTV.

[chaik76]

Tori Amos, Dawn Landes, Ani Difranco, PJ Harvey, Alicia Keyes, PJ Harvey, Allison Mosshart. Peita Brown.

Tori Amos is probably not appropriate. I once did a paper in college on one of her songs...it's about masturbation. Many of her songs have inappropriate themes for children (I don't know the other musicians you have listed here).

[Gretchen in NJ]

If you're not a fan of Miley Cyrus, then I don't think you'll think much of Taylor Swift. But I'm not exactly sure what you are specifically uncomfortable with - maybe it would help to google "lyrics" with a name, and you can browse content.

We do not care for Miley Cyrus here, but we love Taylor Swift. I would not put them in the same category. My girls love Taylor Swift. They also love Martina McBride. She was their first introduction to country music. There are a few more, but they are not coming to mind right now.

[Gretchen in NJ]

Tori Amos is probably not appropriate. I once did a paper in college on one of her songs...it's about masturbation. Many of her songs have inappropriate themes for children (I don't know the other musicians you have listed here).

:iagree:and I don't think Alicia Keyes is appropriate for a 7 year old either.

[Donna T.]

Just upbeat and fun,

 

These two are GREAT! I especially like Family Time.

 

Family Time - Ziggy Marley

 

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Time-Ziggy-Marley/dp/B001UREJUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256503426&sr=1-1

 

B is for Bob - Bob Marley

 

http://www.amazon.com/B-Bob-Marley/dp/B001QAZARG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256503426&sr=1-2

 

Amazon has samples. We mostly listen to Christian artists but I don't know of any that are especially appealing for kids. I'm not even a huge reggae fan but these two are alot of fun. I love them.

[mom2abcd]

You've had some great suggestions:

 

Ours:

 

pureNRG

Mission 6

The Rubyz

Superchic[k]

Luke Benward

 

Here's a nice site:

http://ishinelive.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=6

[GESTEP]

We like Keith Green-The Ministry Years 1977-79 (disc 1, never cared much for disc 2). Also instrumental movie soundtracks.

[Caitilin]

Also, check out Pandora--you can create a station that's, say, Taylor Swift, and it will play her songs as well as others that the database thinks are similar. Then, if you don't like it, you can give it a thumbs-down, and it will never play on your station again. It's a cool way to get introduced to artists that you might not know of otherwise. :)

 

I second the Dan Zanes kids albums, by the way. They are the best in kids music--fun, but never sappy, and have a variety of musical styles too. We love him here, even my 12 y-o's. Have fun!

[Lizzie in Ma]

Just upbeat and fun, not necessarily pop music. I have some country music that she enjoys, and some Shania Twain that she has, unfortunately, memorized already. :glare: I need a better selection.

 

Since she's only 7yo, I don't want her to start getting sucked into the pop idol stuff. If she's loving Miley Cyrus now, she'll be following all of Miley's boyfriend antics by the time she's 10yo. Not cool. I want her to be sheltered for a while longer. A few months ago my dd tried telling me that the Jonas brothers make her feel silly inside. :001_huh: Yeah, that made my momma heart stop for a minute. She's way to young!!

 

Christian music is fabulous.

 

Thank you for all the ideas. Off to start researching.

 

Jump 5 is great for the younger crowd. Definitely Barlow Girl too. :)

[Saille]

I mentioned this somewhere else this weekend, but we listen to a podcast called Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. It's all indie music, and there's none of the precocious, sexualized girly pop that seems so prevalent these days. Some of it is preschooly, but much is not. It is definitely fun and upbeat, and it's run by a dad and his two kids, Ella and Liam. Ella wants to be a paleontologist DJ. It's a great show. No commercials, just good music. I highly recommend it.

[Pippen]

You might check out David Archuletta.

[whitestavern]

I have somewhat steered my dd9 towards older groups/singers. Right now she is enjoying Nora Jones, Sarah Mclachlan, Abba, Enya, Natalie Merchant, and the Carpenters. There are select newer artists I will put on her iPod, but I make sure the songs are appropriate.

[Pippen]

My 11 year old daughter suggested High School Musical 1.

[BikeBookBread]

I mentioned this somewhere else this weekend, but we listen to a podcast called Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. It's all indie music, and there's none of the precocious, sexualized girly pop that seems so prevalent these days. Some of it is preschooly, but much is not. It is definitely fun and upbeat, and it's run by a dad and his two kids, Ella and Liam. Ella wants to be a paleontologist DJ. It's a great show. No commercials, just good music. I highly recommend it.

 

I just checked this out...THIS IS GREAT!!! I'm adding to my podcast right now!

[cajunrose]

I guess I'm a bad mom too. I let my 6 year old listen to HM...NOT MC...but Hannah Montana. I like the songs..I think they are cute. She doesn't watch the TV show, she doesn't attend concerts, she doesn't watch the video's. I don't think that HM music is sexualizing her any more than seeing billboards on the side of the road. She rarely SEE's anything HM or MC (that she knows of...she see's her on magazines and such but can't read yet so it goes over her head).

 

She also has the entire Mama Mia sound track memorized. I think that's more sexual (over her head though) than the HM music she listens to.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Stephenie

[Saille]

I just checked this out...THIS IS GREAT!!! I'm adding to my podcast right now!

 

Cool! I'm always happy to plug that show. I've gotten so much great music out of it. Bill Childs is on twitter, too.

[SilverMoon]

You might think I'm a bad parent, but I love the new Miley Cirus song. I did watch the music video after everyone mentioned it, and I see how it's a little bit over the top for young children, but don't most people just listen to the song? I rarely watch music videos, and my kids never do, so as long as there is nothing wrong with the lyrics, I don't have a problem. Am I missing something in the lyrics? Please tell me if I am.

 

I couldn't figure out what was so awful with it either. After I watched it through I asked my nine year old if she'd seen it yet and put it on for her. After reading the rest of the comments I made my hub watch it too and asked him if he could see anything we should be upset about. :tongue_smilie:

 

It appears to be a bunch of kids having a good time because their favorite song came on. Catchy tune, cute message, kids goofing off. The Daisy Dukes are the only questionable thing I could come up with.

[funschooler5]

We listen to a lot of oldies. My 12 yr old DD's favorite right now is Simon and Garfunkle, and also Paul Simon's album Graceland. She also likes The Beatles and Queen. Since I usually download songs onto my iphone (and they're songs that I know) it's easy to weed out the ones that I think are inappropriate.

 

We don't listen to a lot of newer stuff, but we do like Weezer (some of their songs need to be screened too, though). :001_smile: