Research into music censorship

Censorship is the altering or suppression of parts of music videos that are deemed to be objectionable or offensive. This can be done by the use of blanking (volume silenced), bleeping, using a like sounding word, repeating words before explicit word or back masking (reversing audio).

Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. They regulate TV and radio, meaning that they protect people, young children in particular, from harmful or offensive material that may otherwise be on the TV and radio. They also provide a wide range of high-quality radio programmes appealing to a range of tastes and interests. The people who listen to their radio programmes are protected from harmful or offensive material. If there was no Ofcom, then young children would have easy access to harmful material that may offend them and cause them distress. It would be hard for parents and guardians to censor what their children watch without the help of Ofcom.

Some artists they have been censored include Rhianna, this is because in many of her music video she uses crude and offensive language and sexual references throughout. For example her s&m video included the words ‘sex’, ‘whips’ and ‘chains’. These were cut out when the song aired on radio one.  

Rhianna strongly disagrees with censorship as she says that her lyrics and music videos are a way that she expresses her music and personality. The little clothing that she wears in her videos just highlights the fact that she is free and not afraid of judgement and being herself. Which is something she says she want her fans to do as well, as she is a role model for many people. She has grown up with her audience and her personality and tastes have developed as have her target audience. If she was still releasing songs like ‘umbrella’ then lots of her fans would not be as interested in the music she releases. Furthermore, shocking and outgoing videos creates more publicity, meaning that more people will hear her music and no her as an artist. Her recent hit S&M, mocked censorship by her wearing a T-shirt that actually said ‘censored’ on it. Rhianna does have a very idealic appearance, men find her sexy and attractive and women want to look like her. Overall, Rhianna is against censorship as if restricts her music and she cannot show her personality. She wants to show her audience that they should be able to express themselves and believes censoring her music is restricting her freedom of speech and expressing herself. It also means that the audience won't be able to really get to know her and her music because it won't really show what she wants to be seen.

Rock label, are against censorship, they play some of the biggest artists on their station and say it is up to the listeners if they want to listen or not. People are not forced to listen to the station and always have the option to switch channels. They say that they don’t censor because it attracts a wider audience, which helps them to increase sales. Viewers and fans of this channel are able to listen to music they like without it being changed and altered, therefore they can enjoy the songs more. Another way they increase sales is because no censorship is quite controversial it helps the station to become more popular, it is engaging and interesting for viewers as not many other stations are completely against it. It also helps artists to create an image. One artist that is quite controversial due to her explicit videos/lyrics is Rhianna but Rock label say the songs are about her life and the narrative expresses her life experiences. If people don't want to hear her songs about the harsh reality of her real life, they have the option to turn off the channel. Her song ‘we found love’ encouraged her status as the face of pop, therefore if this song was censored loads she may have not achieved her high status in the pop industry. This song highly influenced the development of pop as she does what she wants with her music. Showing that it is not only views that are inspired by her music but also other artists and they've used her music as a platform to develop themselves as artists. 

Some parents who are for censorship say they have massive concerns about the content shown in the videos. This is supported as Ofcom carried out research on 1000 parents which showed a high concern level for the sexual, offensive, unsuitable nudity content that their children are being exposed to. They also say that children need a good role model to look up to as they are easily influenced and copy artists. E.G. Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana. Also they state, artists should be popular for their talent and music not for the erotic videos and nakedness. Due to the ever advancing technology there is now a need for parent guidance has never been greater, as explicit videos have never been easier to access for children. Non-censored lyrics could get children into trouble, if a child repeats the lyrics at school they could get into serious trouble. But they don’t know what for because their role models are saying them so don’t see it as wrong, and they are innocent/oblivious to the words. Since there has been an increase in the explicit and highly sexual music being released, crime, drugs and drinking rates have also increased.

Parents against censorship say that many controversial music videos are incredibly popular, and this is evident through the high views. Also they say that nudity is natural for men and women and that children need to learn to accept their body’s and be aware of them. The human body is only natural and they say that it is important for children to be aware of it and not embarrassed or feel awkward when they see it. The content also helps to mature children by showing them what’s good and bad. Many of the ‘controversial’ content in the videos are also in real life, e.g. smoking. Introducing it to them now just makes them more aware of it. 155 million people smoke weed so why is it wrong to make children aware of it now. The parents believe that by introducing children to it, you can show them the dangers  and they can become knowledgeable on it. Censorship alters the representation of artists. Non-censored music shows kids to express themselves and be proud of who they re as a  person, they do not need to change themselves just because society does not agree with their image. If they repeat the behaviour in the songs it is not the songs fault it is the parents fault for not having responsibility and educating them about the content within the video. A small 2% of children, who are exposed to gambling actually developed an addiction, which shows that it is very rare that music videos will actually dictate the behaviour of children. It should be up to the audience to listen to what they want, as it all is just for entertainment of the audience. At the age of 10 children can go to jail, therefore they no right from wrong, so no whether the content in the video should be copied or not. Finally, they say that the exposure of the female body is highly supported by feminist groups, the female body is not something that needs to be hidden because it is a natural thing. Its wrong if children are embarrassed or awkward when seeing the female body. 

Fans of uncensored music say, censorship is a suppression of speech and you cannot see the real personalities of the artists through censored music. It restricts the voice of the artist because their stories and experiences are altered, meaning the audience will not be able to gain as good an understanding of the music and lyrics. The pop artist Rhianna, supports uncensored music, you can see her retain to censorship as in one of her songs she says  “are you fucking kidding me” when referring to censorship. Fans also say that a few lyrics can’t change a person and it is the parents job to censor music if they don’t want their children to hear it. Some fans font want to hear the censored version of a song because the think it ruins the experience of listening to the song and they feel like they are not getting to know the artist as well. Again referring to a commonly censored artist Rhianna, fans say people know what to expect when listening to her music and if they don't like it then they don't have to listen to it, this is evident as she is extremely popular with 81 million likes on Facebook and 47 million twitter follows. One of her very famous songs ‘love the way you lie’ is trying to explain a serious issue and the blurred words means that it is hard for people to understand the message. Fans find it insulting that these words are blurred because many people have also struggled with the same issues as Rhianna and they feel like they should be embarrassed or ashamed of what happened to them. 

The music channel MTV, are a big and very successful company. They are not completely against censorship. Before 9pm there is censorship on the channel but after 9pm there is no censorship. This way people/fans are free to listen to censored or non censored music, meaning they are able to choose whether they want to be exposed to the content within the video. They say that people/children are constantly listening to music on mobile devices and head phones so its hard to censor all music. It is easy for a child with a mobile phone to search and listen to uncensored music, exposing themselves to harmful content that their parents may not want them to see. However, they also say that people that always listen to non-censored are typically more violent, this could be due to trying to copy behaviour that they see in the videos. Artists should be role models and many people copy them, especially young children as they are easily influenced. Some artists such as lady gaga and Madonna, create a censored video for them, showing that they agree some content should be censored for a younger audience. Meaning that all fans can watch the artists video and they can have a bigger target audience. This shows they want their music to be available to all their fans but they do feel that some content may not be appropriate for a younger audience and may have a negative effect of them. 

AKA, is a significant outlet with the aim of publicising raw and new talent. It is a place where they can showcase themselves and express their individuality and personality. Censorship, takes away the artists freedom of speech  and ability to express themselves. The audiences of these new artists will not be able to get a good understanding of the style and personality of an artist if their songs are restircted. It also means that the artists are not in control of their music, and music is meant to be like art and creation. Censorship is limiting this. AKA, say that there are far worse things in the world then saying "theses hoes ain't loyal" such as war. Young children most likely are going to be completely unaware of the meanings of these words and will unlikely be negatively affected by them. It takes away the meaning of the song and what the artist actually want to say when producing the song. The artists will feel like they are not able to tell their story through their music and could feel like they have something to be ashamed of if their music is censored. Artists have their own  voice and their music helps them to express it and to express what they are feeling. To conclude, AKA are highly against censorship as they like to advertise new/fresh talent, and censorship puts a lid on the creativity of the artists meaning the audience are not able to connect tot hem as well.

BBC radio 1 are strongly for censorship. They have gone as far as to ban certain songs on their station. They ban songs if they include sexual lyrics or are to explicit.  They do have adult friendly times of the day where they will play non-censored music and they say if people don't like it they can go else where and listen to different music. This radio station plays more old music, not much of the current up to date hits. The older music does not include as many themes of sex, drug, alcohol etc. The station is use to playing this older style music and are quite set in their ways. 

Capital extra also have some censorship on their channel, as they believe in freedom of speech and that artists have a right to express themselves through their music. After 9pm they play the more explicit songs, they do this in order to protect younger viewers. So that the younger viewers don't copy the artist language or actions. They also only censor some artists as censorship annoys some artists and the songs don't make sense because the audience wont be able to understand the message. Capital extra censor music by blank (volume silenced), bleeping, using like sounded words, back masking (reversing audio) and repeating the word before the explicit word.

Overall, most artists agree the censoring their music denies their freedom of speech and ability to express themselves. It also makes it hard to understand sometimes very serious message of a song. And that it is up to parents to control what music their children listen to. They also enjoy having a controversial video because it gains them more publicity and views, resulting in them being more successful and making more money.I personally agree that videos with highly explicit content and crude language should be censored because it has an affect on children. This is because artists are meant to be role models for children and if they see using foul language and doing drugs/crime/drinking they may not realise they actual effect it will have on them. But on the other hand, I think that after 9pm non-censored music should be shown as this way people that want to watch it can and people that don't want to watch it don't have to. However, for my own video I will contradict my own views, as I will be producing the video as an artist and most artists are against censorship, due to it reducing their freedom of speech. Therefore, it would make more sense for my music video not to be censored.