Here it is...
Child’s Play
The music industry is experiencing a take over bid from the world’s most
promising young actors, coming straight from children’s TV to the charts.
Formidable forces of the music industry, Justin Timberlake, Xtina and Britney
came into the public eye from the womb of the Mickey Mouse Club. They may
have dealt with fame differently, but there’s no denying they are popular public
figures. Maybe this is why children’s TV stars have popped up all over the charts
in recent years.
Most recently, Disney Channel’s Miley Cyrus is still sitting pretty in the album
chart this week. 11 weeks after it’s release. Following her cleverly named
albums, ‘Hannah Montana’ and ‘Hannah Montana 2’, ‘Breakout’ is her first album
for which she has distanced herself from her onscreen alias. Not only is Miley
releasing her own music off the back of her Disney Channel success, but she’s
taking the mainstream by storm. ‘See You Again’ reached dizzying heights of 11
in the singles chart. Impressive for a 15 year-old.
The Jonas Brothers, however, started off in music, moving on to Disney. The
brothers started at just 18, 16 and 13 years old, releasing their debut a year later.
Following the release of ‘It’s About Time’ and their second, self-titled album, they
appeared in Hannah Montana. Given that their fan base was already young girls,
the appearance elevated their status and they continued to appear in Disney
Channel programmes. The band played with Miley on her ‘07 ‘Best of Both
Worlds’ tour, which was turned into the first Disney 3-D film. Following their
appearance in Disney’s latest movie ‘Camp Rock’, they’ve signed up for a string
of future appearances including a series, ‘J.O.N.A.S’ and their own Disney 3-D
movie.
This rising trend in the connection between music and young actors may be due
to a lack of music for younger audiences. Original fans of McFly and Busted
would now be in their late teens, where fans of reunited bands like Take That
would be in their mid-to-late twenties. This leaves a gap for these new artists.
And what better way to appeal to kids than coming straight from their favourite
shows.
The proof that younger children are playing a part in popular culture is the
colossal success of High School Musical. The first film appeared on the Disney
Channel as an ‘Original Movie’. Many of these movies preceded HSM, some
even featuring HSM stars, such as Halloweentown starring Lucas Grabeel, so no
one involved was prepared for the immediate furore. Nor was the public watching
that original showing. The films’ fan base is mainly below the age of 13, being
the main age that the Disney enterprise caters for.
Stars of the HSM phenomenon have cashed in on the phase. Vanessa Hudgens,
who plays Gabriella, released her debut album ‘V’ shortly after the first broadcast
of High School Musical. A month after its release, it hit number 24 in the US
Billboard 200. Ashley Tisdale, AKA Sharpay Evans, was already an established
Disney actress, and released ’Headstrong’ in February 2007. The album went to
number 5 in the Billboard 200.
Corbin Bleu, who plays Chad Danforth in the film, went on to be in the Disney
Channel movie ‘Jump In!’ which felt the success of HSM, having it’s own Disney
Store range. He released his debut album ‘Another Side’ soon after, which
included a single taken from ‘Jump In!’. His second album will be released next
year. Lucas Grabeel has been less successful but has still been spotted riding
the solo bandwagon by releasing ‘You Got It’ and ‘Trash Talkin’’.
Disney Channel have also provided this trend with the Aly & AJ (Alyson played
the lead role in ‘Phil of the Future’), Hilary Duff (who began her career in ‘Lizzie
Maguire’) and Selena Gomez. Selena is in Disney’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’,
had a role in Spy Kids and appeared in Jonas Brothers’ ‘Burning Up’ video. She
will release an album next year.
It’s not only Disney that has contributed singers. Drake Bell (who starred in
Drake and Josh), Miranda Cosgrove (who starred alongside Drake before
appearing in School Of Rock) and The Naked Brothers Band (who have their
own, self-titled, documentary show) all sprung from Nickelodeon.
