Tournament of Roses officials chose "Music, Music, Music" as the official theme for the 115th Rose Parade on New Year's Day -- and that turned out to be a natural fit for NAMM, the International Music Products Association, which represents 8,000 member companies, mostly manufacturers and retailers of musical instruments. NAMM is co-sponsoring a float in the parade with Sesame Workshop -- the people who bring you "Sesame Street" on public TV -- and the American Music Conference, a non-profit educational association that promotes music and music education.

NAMM's float -- "Believe in Music" -- was designed in collaboration with Sesame Workshop, and will feature characters from the show, including original cast member Bob McGrath. He told United Press International the high-profile appearance will help NAMM promote supportmusic.com, a Web site that provides guidance to parents, teachers and others who want to get funding for music education restored to education budgets.

"Very slowly, I think we're making progress," said McGrath, "except the budget cuts are so bloody strong everywhere."

Supportmusic.com is also supported by such pro-music organizations as the American Music Therapy Association, the ASCAP Foundation, BMI, the Country Music Association, the Grammy Foundation, Jazz At Lincoln Center, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, the Music Critics Association of North America, the Music Teachers National Association and VH1 Save the Music.

NAMM President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Lamond said the Rose Parade telecast delivers the seventh-largest TV audience of the year, hundreds of millions of people around the world. He relished the thought of reaching that many people with his organization's message.

"Music-making has been a part of our nature in every culture going back a very long time," he said. "Lately it's almost been removed. There are those who appreciate listening and those who appreciate making music, and there's a divide between them."

When he announced the theme of the 2004 parade, Tournament of Roses President Michael Riffey called music a common bond that brings people and cultures together.

"Music is a language that transcends all borders and conveys so much to so many people," said Riffey. "Music study teaches discipline, and school band programs often allow children to travel and experience things that they may otherwise not have been exposed to."

Lamond said Gallup polls have measured a "steady increase" in the number of Americans who say they appreciate the value of making music. He credits research in the 1990s that found a link between music education and high achievement in other disciplines.

"People inherently believe, I think, that music is good for you, and that music education should be part of every child's school day, but the research seals it up," he said.

McGrath said that music, and the arts in general, are something of a direct link to a child's imagination in a way that other core curriculum subjects cannot duplicate. But he said it is difficult to quantify such things.

"Verbal and math scores -- those things you can measure," he said, "but there are a lot of things in art and music that you can't measure."

McGrath said he thinks a lot of people look at music education as a frill -- something kids do just for fun. As a consequence, he said, music education gets shortchanged in budgets.

"Some kids are being asked to skip band and choral so they can get remedial help on reading and math," he said.

McGrath -- who has made a pretty good living in music since the 1950s -- said it might help the cause of music education if more people understood the economic case for it. After all, entertainment remains America's largest export.

"Looking at it from a profit point of view," he said, "it's worth hundreds of millions of dollars."