Kids Listening To Music

It can be a bit dodgy to try to keep up with kids' current popular music tastes and equally difficult to know which of the available products represent a good way to introduce them to classical music. So here's our current recommended selection of some of the music and bands that children and young people are listening to so you can buy them a CD they might actually want to add to their increasingly downloaded music collection, together with a few good starting point classical music discs. The description of each featured item includes a link to a merchant who sells it and related material. As with all pages on our site the content on this one will be refreshed & amended as inspiringyourkids.com develops and grows. If you're interested in a selection of what is available for children to listen to their music on check out our audio equipment page.

Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 65

Compilations are a great way for kids to expand the number and range of artists and bands they know of and enjoy. Despite the Volume number the 'Now' series shows no sign of retiring which is good news for children or teenagers wanting the 45 tracks of recent pop hits, including eight that were No 1s that are available on this CD. If the youngster in your life enjoys Robbie Williams, Girls Aloud, All Saints and Justin Timberlake they're likely to enjoy most of the artists performing the two and a half hours of music here. Available from Amazon

Play It Loud

Two disc forty track compilation of material from an eclectic mix of bands, ranging from highly popular current bands such as the Kaiser Chiefs; Killers; Fratellis and Razorlight to songs from outfits with a longer pedigree like Oasis, Pulp, the Stereophonics and the Stone Roses. Available from Woolworths Group plc

Kaiser Chiefs- Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Yours Truly, Angry Mob is the Kaiser Chief's second album. Fans of their first album 'Employment' will welcome this one, somewhat similar in style and tone, but with some great tracks like Ruby its sure to attract an even wider following for them. Available from dvd.co.uk

Favourite Worst Nightmare

This is the second album from the Artic Monkeys whose first one became the fastest selling debut record in British rock history when it came out in January 2006 having sold 120,000 copies on the day of release, while with sales of 360,000 in the week it appeared it rocketed to No 1, having outsold the rest of the top 20 combined, and went on to win last years Mercury Prize. If the effort of following up such success intimidated this Sheffield foursome it didn't show when this second album blasted into a goodly portion of teenage bedrooms on its release in April 2007, as their gift for spiky well crafted songs, both critics and fans agreed, remained intact. If, after a bit of subtle fishing, you find that the youngster in your life likes indie bands like the Futureheads and Franz Ferdinand, its pretty certain they'll like this too. Available from Woolworths Group plc

Amy Winehouse-Back To Black

This Amy Winehouse CD, released in October 2006, was her second album and has been described as 'the best soul album ever recorded', although it also has bits of other musical genres, such as jazz, reggae, pop etc. Appealing for both its vocals and lyrics, this is an essential purchase for young and not so young adults. Available from dvd.co.uk

Kids Love To Dance CD

For young children of between 2 - 6 this is a 20 track compilation of pop songs that will greatly appeal to them, and which are likely to have them delightedly moving around and singing along. Amongst the sure fire winners are the Bob The Builder inspired 'Can We Fix It?' while songs like 'Yellow Submarine', 'The Birdie Song', 'Do The Conga', 'The Loco-Motion', 'Take Off Your Shoes' and '5-6-7-8' which are amongst those featured here, will win a very appreciative audience from members of this age group. Available from Early Learning Centre

Prokofiev : Peter And The Wolf

Making classical music fun and interesting is of course the best way to get children to both listen to and play it. This disc certainly manages to be both for those of three and over, by offering a great package that includes the Prokofiev of the title together with the lesser known music of Francis Poulenc's Babar The Elephant, an accomplished version of Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the instruments in an orchestra, and narration from Barry Humphries in the guise of Dame Edna Everage. Available from Amazon

DAB Digital Radio

Digital radio has revolutionised the quality and increased the range of the listening experience of anyone lucky enough to have a DAB radio. For younger children the BBC's digital station BBC 7 (which can only be received on a DAB radio or via the internet) provides the excellent 'Little Toe' and 'Big Toe' children's radio shows. The former specialises in classic and contemporary stories for kids of up to around 8, while the latter provides a magazine of literature, music and features for the 9s and up through to early teens. For kids and teenagers who are really into music a DAB radio like our featured item offers a clear stereo sound delivered by crisp digital reception, and an array of general and niche radio stations such as BBC 6 that can only be received by a digital radio set or via the internet. Our featured item is the fantastic Pure Evoke 2XT (with alarm) which looks great, sounds great and boasts a system of pre-sets and manual tuning that couldn't be more simple or effective. We, on the site, are big fans of digital radio for the world of music and spoken word experiences it has brought into our own and our children's lives. Available from Amazon