Research into music censorship

Do you think music videos should be censored?

Things to include....

Ofcom, censorship law
Detailed, examples from music videos
Specific artists from the music industry
The Eminem debate
Provided both sides of argument- Parents view for and against, record label, Kiss radio station, Eminem himself, MTV, 15 year old fan.

I do believe that music videos should be censored, this is because I do not think certain material is suitable for society to watch, mainly including young children who interpret different things from videos and in many occasions think that it is acceptable to copy the artists because they are a 'role model'.

Ofcom is an independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. It takes into the consideration and importance in terms of freedom in the music industry. Music videos are an artistic and creative concept, which sometimes contain a deep message that connects with the audience, however some people may find certain material offensive. Ofcom has duties with regard to all music videos to hold boundaries in terms of limiting certain material. These duties ensure that under eighteens are protected and enforce generally accepted standards to provide protection for members of the public from the inclusion of offensive and/or harmful material. For example in the video 'We Found Love' by Rihanna face controversy with the music video due to the content involved, some of the material included sex, drugs, anti social behaviour, gambling and violence. Due to this material the video was only shown after prime time, where it was less likely to be viewed by people under the age of eighteen. Ofcom say 'We are aware of the issues faced by broadcasters in this area, including the desire and commerical need to broadcast new music videos as soon as possible after there release, and the challenge of managing the expectations of music labels and other stakeholders'.

An artist that faced controversy throughout his whole career is Eminem; he believes that censorship is not necessary as he listened to the same genre of music in terms of material when he was growing up. He says in an interview the he listened to artists such as 'Rum DMC' and 'NWA'. He also stated that 'kids are smarter now-a-days'. Throughout his whole interview he justifies why his material and other artist's material should not be censored. 'I used to sneak in to R-rated movies', 'I never raped anyone'. He also states that 'I didn't turn out bad', 'it's the parents fault'. He finally ties the whole interview off by stating that 'its only music, its only entertainment'. However, if this material was broadcasted around the globe to various people from different walk of like and exposed to young children then this would surely be detrimental for society as kids would copy Eminem and all of the things he promotes.

a debate that was held with Eminem, a 15 year old fan, Channel AKA, Eminems record label, a parent against this, Kiss radio and also MTV. Eminem stated 'leave me to be what I want to be' which the parent replied 'You are encouraging kids to wear because you are a real model to them'. This response was countered with 'Music shouldn't be censored because kids will find out the words anyway'. Music channels had opposing views on the matter, with Kiss and MTV supporting censorship, Kiss said that 'we only play music if its uncensored as it is hard to censor music that has lots of swearing'. MTV concurred with; 'Because MTV is a universal channel, Eminems songs should only be played if swearing is limited'. The parent on Eminems side argued that 'We have got used to swearing over the generations'. Channel AKA and the record label concluded, Channel AKA stated 'yes, Eminem comes under the crude category but that is what our channel promotes and we think he is a great artist for being real'. This was followed by his record label that said 'we support Eminem's lyrics because we believe in the freedom of speech'. Although there is a good argument for both sides, children are going to be influenced by the artists no matter what other people say, they will find out some way to find any type of music, explicit or not. And if this type of music is persistently drilled into a young childs mind, they will think it is a norm for people to speak like this.

It is clear that there is an argument for both sides, with one being that music should be what it is without censorship to the freedom of speech etc. The other being that artists like Eminem and Rihanna influence young children with their material and I think this is a vital point as I don't think it is acceptable for children to listen to this type of music or see the material that these artists promote.