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Worth repeating: “We Stopped Letting Our Kid Listen to Digital Music. You Should, Too”

I found this on a website called Fatherly. Read and discuss.


We live in an age of endless distraction. From our phoneto our smart speaker, to tablet games for children and kid-friendly YouTube our world is defined by attention-grabbing devices and streaming shows, podcasts, movies, and interactive thingamabobs. It’s anxiety-inducing, sure, but for the most part, adults are used to it.

Kids, though? Not so much.

Their brains are growing and choosing between 101 TV shows just causes overload. Teaching kids the concepts of depth and focus isn’t something kids can learn in the outside world; they need to learn it within the safety of their home.

This lesson came to a head at my house over a great battle that occurred between our 19-month-old and a Bluetooth enabled smart speaker. Music, a medium that once required patience and focus, now, in digital form, allows all of us to just skip a track whenever we feel like it.

And it’s enough to drive kids and parents insane.

That’s just a taste. It’s definitely worth reading the rest.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39568 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “Worth repeating: “We Stopped Letting Our Kid Listen to Digital Music. You Should, Too”

  • I believe the act of taking an LP out of a sleeve or loading a CD into a tray makes music more tangible. It encourages the recognition that someone took time to make this instead of the invisible stream you never see. What would be your reaction between hearing about a streaming service that holds millions of tunes vs. walking into an old-fashioned radio station’s music library (or, probably, Alan’s basement). The first elicits something like “OK, Cool” from me, the second is more like “Woah!”

    Reply

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