By Crystal Ogar

I’m sure by now all of you have seen the viral video Friday by Rebecca Black. No? Don’t bother. It’s produced by Ark Music Factory, a company that features auto-tuned, pre-teen girls against a back drop of poorly edited green screen images.

Company Founder and CEO Patrice Wilson talks about keeping his music “clean and safe”, which apparently also means the mild exploitation of young kids for his own publicity. Wilson, also called “Pato,” is often featured in most of the videos rapping.

Ark Music Factory charges these singers $2,000 to $4,000 to help them begin their pop star careers. The price tag includes an original song, photo shoot, studio time, music video, and image consulting. Not only are these girls not old enough to do most of the things they’re singing about, I find it odd that 98% of Ark Music Factory are only pre-teen girls. I’ve only seen two males featured with Ark Music Factory and no music videos starring them them.

With the rising popularity of Black’s Friday, Ark Music Factory is gaining attention. However, most of the popularity is negative because of the low production quality, inappropriateness and the ridiculous videos. Black is only 13-years-old and she sings about partying on a Friday night, driving around town with her friends, and is dancing at a house party, which is inappropriate for her age.

Another example is the video Crazy by 12-year-old Darla Beaux, where she sings in a strait jacket about what she’ll do for a boy and how he makes her “crazy.” She’s in full makeup in a mental institution and everything she’s singing about is very mature and upsetting. Twelve-year-old Jenna Rose in O.M.G. sings about men taking pictures of her and coming back to her house. There’s also a group of 12-year-olds dancing provocatively in very inappropriate outfits.

It seems that Ark Music Factory is pushing these pre-teen girls into adulthood extremely fast with the bait of fame and pop stardom. Boycott Ark Music Factory and its founder because in the long run, these types of videos are going to be detrimental to young girls who are watching.