My favorite definition of history is something that happened when you
were a kid.  Ancient history is anything that happened before you were
born.  History is interesting to study, but ancient history is just a
bunch of facts with no interest.

When Jody mentioned the Beatles being old, remember they broke up in
1970, forty-four years ago.  Thus to more than half of the people alive
today the Beatles are ancient history.  To catch the ear of modern
kids, you need something they like.  Seeing/hearing their favorite song
arranged for anything different is an ear catcher and will get
attention.  But next month it will be something different.  If you want
to catch their parents (who are about to enter the phase of life where
they can afford expensive toys like mechanical music), you need to
appeal to their generation.  That is not the Beatles.  Anyone who
remembers the Beatles is now nearing retirement and has a good idea of
what he wants to spend his final years on.

Once you catch people with their favorite songs, you can then start
broadening their horizons with music you like.  You need to build trust
first.  if you play only music they don't care about, they won't listen
long enough to decide there was good music written long ago.  Build
trust that these machines can play good music; then you can throw in a
few (I repeat, a few!) older favorites and they will find they enjoy
them.

Some have mentioned that mechanic music is the forerunner of
computers.  While this is true, I've seen many kids listening politely
to that pitch without caring.  I wouldn't use it.  However it is a good
pitch for kids who are interested in how things work.  The type of kid
who wants you to take the cover off so he can watch things move is
going to be more receptive to this pitch.

Henry Miller