What was the connection between money and 1950s music in the United States?

The major connection between money and the music of the
1950s is that the music scene in this decade was driven by the fact that teens, for the
first time, had a great deal of money to spend.

Because of
post-war prosperity, teens had free time and had money to spend on entertainment.  Music
was a major form of entertainment and the music industry was eager to get some of that
money.  This led to the development of the new "rock and roll" music, derived from
African American Rhythm & Blues (R&B), sung by white people like Elvis
Presley.  Because the money was there to be made by catering to white youth, record
companies went out and found white people who could sing "black" music.  They did this
because that kind of music would be more acceptable when sung by white
people.

The fact that white youth had so much money to
spend on music influenced the rise of a sound (rock and roll) that took black music and
toned it down and "whitened" it.