Introducing Bake Sale

Perhaps you were put off by the rapid-fire, numbers-based, solo discursive nature of the Kindie Week in Review podcast.

Or maybe you weren't interested in kindie folk talking about non-kindie subjects with me on the My Other Other Gig podcast.

Well, then, I've got another show for you. It's called Bake Sale, and it's all about Kickstarter and other crowdfunding entrepreneurs who are in the midst of campaigns to create (or bring to the world) their family-friendly albums, products, shows, etc. The first episode with the wonderful Heidi Swedberg about her Kickstarter project for her next album My Cup of Tea went up last week. You can subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or this link.

Hope you enjoy the discussion and stick around for more!

March Z7: What You Missed (Or Not, I Hope)

I do feel compelled to remind you occasionally of what great music you're missing out on if you're not signed up for (or opening up) the Zooglobble newsletter. Newsletter recipients get the occasional Z7 newsletter featuring 7 tracks from 7 artists, downloadable for free for just 7 days.

The March Z7 has come and gone, and here's what we featured this time around:

The Not-Its! - "Let's Skateboard"

Moona Luna - "No Me Digas"

Paul Spring - "Home of Song"

Bill Harley & Keith Munslow - "It's Not Fair To Me"

Milkshake - "Starry Starry Night"

The Boogers - "Pandas Are Dangerous"

Hand Aid - "Felt Around the World"

As a mixtape, I'm not sure that set of songs flows well, but those are seven fine songs, folks. More Z7s are in the works. Sign up today.

Reminder: Sign Up for the Newsletter!

I hope I'm not too pushy when it comes to encouraging you to sign up for the Zooglobble newsletter. But I'm prepping the next edition of Z7, and once again I think it's going to be a great way for you to get seven exclusive free downloads from seven artists' new and upcoming albums, albums worth exploring further. (Hence the prominence of the "7." I never said I was subtle.)

Last month I featured the following awesome tracks:

Tumble Down Library - "Bartholomew"

Boxtop Jenkins - "Wag More"

Jennifer Gasoi - "Happy!"

Justin Roberts - "A Wild One"

Helen Austin - "Five Little Things"

SteveSongs - "Song Without a Rhyme"

fleaBITE - "Dogs' Day Out"

I'm busy assembling the January edition now, and it's just as cool, featuring artists new and old. So if you haven't yet signed up for the newsletter, I encourage you to do so. Like, soon.

Introducing Z7: 7 Artists, 7 Songs, 7 Days. Lucky You.

I've been pondering how to improve the service I provide to you, dear reader, and like a bolt out of the blue, it hit me. What you want, dear reader, is really good music for the whole family, delivered with just a click or two to your computer. Oh, yes, make it free, please.

Done.

Introducing Z7, a set of seven songs from seven just-released or soon-to-be-released albums. All the songs are top-notch, and the albums they come from are going to appeal to a lot of you as well. What's more, these are exclusive downloads -- you won't be able to download them for free anywhere else during the seven days they're available.

Wait. What do you mean, "seven days they're available."

Well, you didn't think they'd be free 'til the end of time, did you? No, you've got exactly seven days to download the tracks before the files go away.

OK, how awesome are these tracks?

This awesome:

The Board of Education - "I'm Not Here Right Now"
Doctor Noize - "Noun Town" from Grammaropolis
Todd McHatton - "So Nice to Meetcha"
Elizabeth Mitchell - "Blue Clouds"
Elena Moon Park - "Poong Nyun Ga"
David Tobocman - "Escalator"
Vered - "Hands in My Mouth"

You're right, that is awesome. Sign me up.

Well, I can't do that... but you can. Simply sign up for the Zooglobble newsletter and if you do so by next Wednesday morning (October 24th), I'll make sure you get the links for this most recent offering. And even if you stumble upon this after the 24th, sign up anyway -- November's offering is almost set!

Thanks to the artists for participating and to you for signing up.

Best Kids Music 2011: An Introduction

Well, it's December, and if you write for, well, just about any website, you are now constitutionally obligated to start putting together lists of the year's best stuff. Last I put together a comprehensive list of kids music worth your time and this year's list is even bigger. Better? Well, that's up to you, but from my perspective, there is no sign that the creative flowering of the genre shows any signs of slowing down. As always, my year meets the definition of the Fids and Kamily year -- November 1, 2010 through October 31, 2011. I'll be updating this post with links to the relevant subject posts as they go up. Top 10 Debuts Top 10 Album Packages Top 25 Songs Top 25 Albums Big Ideas Thanks as always for taking time out of your day to read this or anything else on the site. I appreciate it!

So Many Ways To Follow Kids Music, So Little Time

There are so many ways to keep up with me. And while I love the idea of this website, and people interacting with me and with others here, I know that that's not always the way people read me. So I have a good half-dozen other ways for you stay in touch. A while back I started to publish this very website on the Amazon Kindle platform. It was sort of a beta thing, so I didn't publicize it here, but now that people are actually paying to subscribe, I figure it's ready for primetime. For less than a buck a month, you can get Zooglobble automagically delivered to your Kindle ~~(or Kindle app)~~ and never worry about missing another cheap joke, gratuitous use of exclamation points, and general giddiness (or the latest interviews, reviews, and news about the family music genre). Just go here to subscribe -- you automatically get a 14-day free trial period. For those of you who want to follow me in other ways, here's a handy roundup of other ways you may already be following me: -- Facebook: I use this social media platform the most. Which is to say, not a lot, but enough. Sign up now, and you can be one of the last members of the "under 1,000 fans" club (because I'm just about at a thousand fans). -- Twitter: I'm definitely not a power user -- Ashton Kutcher gets more views of a single tweet of his than I have in my lifetime. But every now and then I go through a Twittering spurt. -- YouTube: I've got a bunch of great live videos from a bunch of great kids music artists, and it's always growing. -- Cafepress: Want to buy something with Brandon Reese's excellent Zooglobble logo on it? Then here you go... -- Applications: I've got apps that monitor my website and my Twitter feed. (One more reason for me to tweet a little more, right?) Get the Android app here. For iOS users (like me), if you go here with your iPhone, etc., you'll be offered the option of placing the mobile web app on your home screen. My Myspace page is still alive, but I think I'll spare you that one. Finally, I've got a newsletter, which comes in two flavors: 1) national, and 2) Arizona-specific. Both are really different newsletters -- I wouldn't recommend the Arizona one if you're not living here, but if you love have yet one more occasional newsletter in your e-mail, sign up for both!