Music is music, whether it's folk, rock, classical, rap, whatever. I don't mind terribly much what my kids listen to (my eldest daughter listens to mainstream pop, a la Ricky Martin, Back Street Boys, etc. which I find to be vapid - nevertheless there is artistic value in any form of music, even the sound the washing machine makes as it goes through its cycles) as long as they're listening to something. My kids get the benefit of my broad music base, so they'll hear the old man listening to Bluegrass one day, Kronos Quartet another, Jimi Hendrix on another day, Native American religious chants, Ambient or New Age another day. Through my example I hope they gain a wide and healthy respect for all forms of music, but if they only listen to Country & Western or pop all their lives, I will be content knowing the aural aspect of their time on this earth will have been immeasurably enriched than had they not been exposed to any musical vibrations at all.