Children's entertainer breaks into Starbucks music business

After Laurie Berkner graduated from Rutgers University in 1991, she was short on cash, so she took a job teaching music to preschoolers.

"I hated it — I cried every day," Berkner says. She felt unable to control or even communicate with the children in her class, who were "walking all over her."

Another teacher gave her advice. "She told me to tell the kids what to do through the music; not by talking to them," Berkner says. "It totally changed everything."

Berkner is now one of the most popular children's performers in America. Her music videos are a staple on Noggin, a cable network for preschoolers, and she runs her own New York City-based independent music label, Two Tomatoes Records.

Since beginning her music career in 1992, Berkner has sold about 500,000 albums.

Starting last week, Berkner's music video DVD, "We are ... The Laurie Berkner Band," became available at Starbucks. It's the first DVD Starbucks is carrying in all its stores. The company has sold other DVDs in select locations.

Ralph Tribbey, editor of the trade publication DVD Release Report, says big-box retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart stock only a small number of specialty DVDs. Starbucks gives Berkner a new forum.

"There are an awful lot of Starbucks-drinking moms out there," he says.

The Starbucks partnership is the latest in a string of corporate alliances that have benefited Berkner. She has released four CDs; the latest one, "Under a Shady Tree," came out in 2002. She writes virtually all her own material.

Her music is distinctive because it speaks to kids without talking down to them, charming youngsters without boring grown-ups.

Berkner, 36, was raised in Southern California and Princeton, N.J. She learned to play the guitar in high school by borrowing an instrument from a child she was baby-sitting.

After graduating from Rutgers with a degree in psychology, she began to perform music at preschools. In 1997, a day-care center offered to give her $2,000 to make 500 cassettes of her music.

Later, a friend, Sarah Milstein, helped her draw up a business plan and in 1998, Berkner launched Two Tomatoes Records.

Berkner's group features her husband, Brian Mueller, on bass, and her friend Susie Lampert on keyboards. At first, she sold "a couple of CDs a week." She kept the label afloat with credit cards.

Two Tomatoes took a toll on her marriage. The apartment she shared with her husband was cluttered with boxes, and the mess put them "at each other's throats," Berkner says.

The couple brought in a feng shui master in 2000. The master pointed to the stacks of CDs and said, "You need to change all this."

Berkner's business got a major bump up when she was invited to appear on the "Today" show in 2001.

But by 2003, the "Today" impact had worn off. Berkner found herself in debt once more. She applied for more credit cards to keep her business running.

Her biggest break came in 2004 when Noggin, part of Viacom's Nickelodeon Networks, asked her to tape a series of music videos. Berkner says her sales increased "10 times" after the segments began airing.

Razor & Tie, an entertainment company that began to distribute Berkner's CDs in 2004, went to Starbucks last year about carrying her music.

Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, says he and his team were sold on the idea because Berkner creates content "that parents and kids can enjoy."

Experts are mixed on Starbucks' move.

Aram Sinnreich, managing partner of Radar Research, a media consulting firm, says video DVDs are one of the fastest-growing segments in the music industry, even though traditional CD and DVD movie sales are slipping.

At the same time, he observes, an increasing portion of music sales are conducted outside of traditional music retailers. Says Sinnreich: "Starbucks is well-positioned."

Laura Ries, a partner at brand consultancy Ries & Ries, disagrees. "Selling a kids music DVD at Starbucks is a lousy idea," Ries says. "Most parents go to Starbucks to get away from the kids."

Berkner is likely to be seen but not heard. A Starbucks spokeswoman says it has "no plans at this time" to play Berkner's music over its in-store speakers.

Berkner has cut back on touring to focus on her 17-month-old daughter, Lucy. Berkner says her husband recently left her band so they could keep family and business separate.

She says she has turned down offers to sign with larger labels. She says she makes "several times what anyone would make doing a traditional record deal. I don't sell as many CDs probably, but I don't have to."