When Will We Hear the Pied Piper Pledge Drive?

Move on over, Click and Clack -- here comes Pied Piper Radio. Amberly Warnke from Ages 3 and Up! has gone big time, developing a biweekly radio show for the Public Radio Exchange. The goal? Distribution to public radio stations across the country.

And why should you care?

I'm excited that somebody's taken a more concrete step to try to reach the public radio demographic. I gave a shout-out to Amberly here in which I noted that I was "excited that Pied Piper Radio will allow a whole new audience of kids to listen to music crafted for them."

Obviously there are a lot of ways for families to listen to kids music right now, as Amberly points out. (Heck, I even have one myself.) But the public radio demographic is an important one that's essentially being missed, and that's why Pied Piper Radio is important, even if you already have a favorite community radio station/satellite radio/internet program. The problem is that without members of the public saying, "hey, I want this," public radio station program directors will continue to say that "kids don't listen to the radio." By "radio," they don't mean Radio Disney, which older kids listen to in droves. Minnesota Public Radio produces a 24-hour streaming station called Radio Wonderground -- it raises the question as to whether MPR doesn't realize the value of that service or if other program directors don't realize it. The viability of the kids music genre doesn't hinge upon a public radio presence, but lack of such a presence doesn't do it any favors.

So it's up to you, fine Zooglobble readers, to let your public radio station know that Amberly's service is available. The weekend is a fine time for family music -- they can find an hour. And if they don't, you can already listen to the first episode.