Ingrid Harding is a teacher and a mom who finally got fed up with the limited selection of children’s music available at local stores and major online retailers. But after networking with a number of artists’ organizations, Harding, a K-12 teacher, put together a host of children’s recording artists to serve as the backbone of her own online personalized children’s music website, PlayhouseRadio.com.
The site allows parents and children to create their own playlists and CDs. Parents looking for songs with themes (to encourage children to clean their rooms, or for birthday parties, or for sing-a-longs for major car trips) can find it here. Unlike other online music sites, users of PlayhouseRadio.com listen to entire songs without having to make a purchase or dole out dollars for memberships. Visitors can scan 12 general categories (including “educational”, “dance”, “sleepy time”, and “travel”), or search out songs based on more specific kid topics, such as trains or bugs. Parents can screen every song before making their final selection. The complete personalized CD of 10 songs costs $9.95.
