This Father's Day, musical cards strike high notes

Is the radio on, or is that just your Father's Day card?

The hottest trend in the greeting card industry now is cards with sound. That could be 30-second clips of popular songs, personally recorded voice messages or classic lines from TV shows and movies.

Walk into Millie's Hallmark in Mount Prospect and the first thing you'll see is a wedding cake-shaped display of more than 50 musical or record-your-own-message Father's Day cards. The songs range from ESPN Sportscenter's theme song to "Disco Inferno."

Co-owner Bill Reddy says sales of cards with sound have grown exponentially in recent months. In January, he designated about 12 feet of shelf space to these cards. Today, it's about 72 square feet and growing.

"An everyday card just doesn't excite the younger generation, the technology generation," said Reddy, whose store boasts one of the largest musical card selections in the Chicago area. "They'll open the cards and you'll see the booties start to shake."

Cards with sound typically cost $4.99 - not much more than the cost of a nonmusical card. Their batteries aren't replaceable, but they can last for up to 200 plays, according to Hallmark spokeswoman Deidre Parkes.

Besides adding humor, the music succeeds in making greeting cards more personal because they connect people to specific memories or times in their lives. That's what prompted Sara Osorio, 15, of Des Plaines, to buy her best friend a graduation card this week that played Nickelback's "Photograph."

"That song just reminds me of her," she said. "It makes me think of us growing up."

Annette DiMaso, 43, of Des Plaines, has bought dozens of musical cards, including an anniversary card for her husband that played "Still the One," a 21st birthday card for her son that played "I'm Free" and a birthday card for her 90-year-old aunt that featured a deep voice saying, "A long, long time ago you were born!"

"She thought it was hysterical," DiMaso said. "The music makes the card."

Sound is also now available on travel mugs, gift bags, frames and in magazine ads.

Greeting card companies added sound to their products in 2006 after obtaining licensing rights to everything from polka music to rock 'n' roll, and from shows ranging from "I Love Lucy" to "The Office." At Hallmark, which sells almost 1,000 different varieties, best-sellers include "The Chicken Dance," George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" and all of the Hannah Montana and "High School Musical" songs.

"The ones where you can record messages are great for long distance. If you can have the kids saying, 'Hi grandma and grandpa!' on a card, that's great," Parkes said. "Our licensing group works every day to clear more songs and more movies, so there'll be more coming in the future."