Censorship is used for all music videos to hide any explicit content a certain music video maybe present to protect certain a diverse range of audiences. This is important to have for music videos as different audiences are involved in different genres, which can require different attitudes or perspectives towards what is seen as appropriate or inappropriate. Censorship can be used in music videos and songs to help prevent any offence some audiences may experience, including young age, morals, religion or political reasons. This is used to restrict access to all types of musical access. Censorship can be used in music videos, to hide or eliminate certain contents that can be a sensitive topic for certain audiences. They can also be used in music channels, for example: not including songs with overly sexual references throughout the video, with explicit content within the lyrics and performance of the artist, for example: one of the most popular music channels of MTV, with many viewers of all ages, the company has to be cautious towards what they are allowing them to watch, to help protect them.
Censorship is effective as it can protect younger audiences from seeing certain essences which can influence their attitudes upon certain things, for example: a young boy could disrespect young girls around him from watching a music video where the female artist is constantly being objectified sexually. They are a music channel in which take Censorship and watershed very seriously and are constantly cautious in terms of what to include within their music video and what should be censored out or not included at all. This is shown through only previewing certain music videos after 9pm, this reduces the risk of younger audiences feeling uncomfortable by certain elements within the music video, this can range from sexual scenes, violence, drug use, an example of an artist who is seen an inappropriate by many viewers is Rihanna in a variety of her songs. An example of her song is "Pour It Up," which was seen as extremely sexual by a wide range of audiences and promoting elements of the industry of stripping, which is seen as degrading women and objectifying them.
Ofcom is a regulator and competition authority for UK communication industries. This industry regulate TV and radio, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and the airwaves which wireless devices use. People who watch TV and listen to the radio are protected from any harmful and offensive material. The company 'Ofcom,' is the communications regulator in the UK. They regulate TV, certain radio channels, mobiles, postal services . This company ensure that people in the United Kingdom are protected from things such as scams. Their role within music videos, songs and artists is to protect minors from viewing material which can be inappropriate (such as offensive language) to a certain age group. Their role can be perceived as extremely important to many people around the nation. They have many roles within the music industry, for example: situating offensive language on the radio to decrease controversy from certain audiences feeling offended or disgusted with certain languages that were involved in a song which a friend/family member may like the the style and rhythm of the song and may learn all parts of the song and pick up upon offensive language to use to disrespect people around them.
Many audiences have criticised the artist Rihanna and her song "We Found Love," due to many offensive and uncomfortable scenes which she portrays throughout the video. One of the main examples of inappropriate scenes due to provocative behaviour, with a loose jacket on and nothing underneath throughout the duration of the video, this is clear to see for the audience as their are bright lights which shine upon her. There are also scenes where she is in an open field with her partner and runs whilst taking her top off. This can be seen as influencing young fans to do the same as this artist in order to gain the respect she has by many people, encouraging them to behaving in a certain way and degrade themselves to get a particular type of attention. There are also natural occurrences such as lightning and aggressive fire hazards, this can be seen as scary for particular audiences as it is very dangerous and it doesn't seem to bother her as a character within the music video, showing that she is dangerous and trouble making. This is also shown when she seems to rebel against societies expectations and rules as she is jumping on tables in cafes where people are trying to eat to impress her partner, also when it shows that she is under the influence of taking pills and stealing. This can be extremely upsetting for certain audiences due to the fact that a big part of her fan base is younger girls who look up to her. This can be very upsetting for many parental concerns as she can be seen as affluencing certain individuals to behave like her to be 'as pretty' as her, as well respected and able to 'find love.'
There are a range of opinions towards the artist of Eninem due to the way he expresses anger within his work of songs. There are many companies involved and perspectives towards whether Eninem should be censored or not. This artist does include very aggressive language and violence within his work and some audiences either view this positively as a way of letting out his anger in an effective way which benefits his career and some view it very negatively as many young people look up to him and can then easily pick up upon offensive sayings which can be used against people like their parents in order to gain respect.
There is a wide range of views upon this topic of censorship within songs and music videos. Some opinions have a variety of postive outlooks upon it whilst other have a very negative view. The views differ between ages, culture, family situations etc. The views of censorship in which I will be analysing into further detail are the artist, record label, parents for and against, fans, British music channels and British radio stations.
The particular artist of Eminem has a very negative view upon censoring an artists piece of work for a number of reasons, This artist likes to look at songs in a very creative way, he likes to convey his songs towards fans and audiences towards how he desires. As a lot of the duration of his songs can involve violence and swearing, censoring all of that out looses the full effect it once had. He is not able to express to the audience his true self, the passion within his lyrics would be blurred or changed slightly. This in which only decreases the bond which he would normally be able to build with audiences, as he is informing them upon a particular bad experience he has once had, and is not even able to tell his story with the feeling of distress he feels is essential to include. He feels that fans would not feel influenced to feel the need to participate in this kind of behaviour after listening and watching his work as he has said a number of times in his songs/interviews and more that he does not do everything he says he does in his songs, and that it just allows his work to enphasis the level of anger he has felt before. As an artist, he feels he has the right to express his emotions as he wishes. In regards towards his strong view upon not having censorship upon artists hard work, he feels that it should be the parents role to take control upon what they want their children to watch and what not to watch.
The view of parents for censorship is very strong and demanding. This is due to how their frustration of their children differing in behaviour and this category of opinion believe without censorship, would ruin the position of children. They believe censorship is strongly needed due to the period of time we are living in where media is everything. As growing up you wish to be accepted socially, by copying a global phenoma like Eninem, children are thought to believe that they have to replicate trends and characteristics upon certain artists to be considered 'cool.' Parents believe it is so important to disclose certain things from children until they are at a more mature age where they are able to understand more easily, as they are the generation of the future and their behaviour patterns which is spiralling negatively would only influence next generations so fourth towards what they think is acceptable. By using censorship upon videos allow children to experience their childhood without it being ruined quickly by adult artists wanting to be more unique and 'respected.' Parents believe it would be much appreciated to apply this upon songs to avoid foul and explicit language being used from their innocent children, and disrespecting their elders. Parents should not have to be more strict with their children and restrict them from listening to all types of songs due to inappropriate context. Parents cannot control everything their child does when on the internet, they believe there had to be a more powerful domain such as censorship to help decrease chances of young children witnessing sexual scenes, bad language, gang violence etc when at a young age. Parents believe only positivity would come out of increasing censorship in more music videos and songs as there is a growing rate of uncensored music which is the main reason for growing acceptance of traditionally unacceptable language. Explicit work from artists can teach young children to be more open to explore sexual things from a young age, and objectify women from female artists which portray themselves as sexual objects to gain popularity, which only reflects negatively upon viewers disrespecting their female peers. Eminem should be censored as he is seen as a bad influence, is not respectful to anyone, especially when referring to women(misogynist). He explicitly endorse violence through tone of voice and props. Not much language used, very limited and is mainly rude. In a video, he buries his mother in a metaphorical grave in the train, wishing her well on her journey to hell. This can have a negative effect upon children as they can be more spiteful and disrespectful when in an invetiable disagreement/argument with their mother, as they believe that is how they should act in order to be dominant and powerful. Eminem has also grousomly rapped about killing many people. For example: the song 'Kim,' which mostly shows the artist represented as misogynistic, disgusting, horrifying through his violent and aggressive tone of voice.
Parents who are against censorship believe the type of parenting treatment rather than types of music videos that affect a child. They believe over-protection of a child only leads to them more likely to spiral out of control and make them more deviant. Being strict with children over what artists and music videos they can and can't watch or listen to will most likely only tempt them to do it and maybe even find more raw artists which you didn't even know about. If children do decide to watch more sensitive music videos, can be seen as informative and beneficial, as it can teach them things such as harmful side effects towards alcoholism and substance abuse and how it has affected the artist as a person. Children who are kept away from these educational findings are likely to experience it in their own lifetime, rather than not affecting themselves by watching someone else do it in no music video. They are able to see it only negatively affects the artists whole life. Parents who are against censorship believe if a certain child is mentally unstable, non censored music videos should not be blamed. Being mentally unstable was not caused by listening to a song without censorship. Forms of media cannot be confounded for how different people behave and the type of culture/place/generation a parent raised their child in.
Views that fans withhold within the topic of censorship is likely to be against for a variety of reasons. Fans that idolise artists such as Enimem want to be able to experience his full length of his songs to be able to witness certain emotions he is feeling without it being censored out. Without it, he would be able to express himself freely towards how he wishes towards audiences. Fans are able to create a stronger bond with the artist as they can feel like they are getting to know him as they are able to learn more about the relationships in his life (romantically, with family etc.) This allows a more personal level of vulnerabilty of the artist, which fans admire and appreciate. Fans tend to be more of the younger age, as they are stereotypically known for looking up to successful elders. Of the teenage years, it is inevitable for the majority of the younger generation to learn more about someone's personal life, Enimen likes to portray his negative experiences which can be looked at as a way of unattracting the
Younger generation to go into violence as he represents a very intense, negative character which can be seen as disturbing. That he is able to share his off the rail stories shows a sense of maturity, showing that he is not like who he use to be, which fans look up to more to be like his present character rather than what he was like in the past, showing a positive outlook to hid work. Using censorship looses the aggression he is trying to persue for the majority of his work for a reason. It starts to loose meaning and not make sense through most verses, as it blurs and stops and starts. This can then bore the audience and can actually be a cause of decreased numbers of fans due to the inconsistantency his work has to portray as some audiences do not enjoy. Fans can believe that you can watch what you desire to watch, as you have your own free will, by doing so; can then allow everyone to be happy with audiences who dislike his work to not associate themselves with it and fans able to experienc the full length of the song/music video without interruptions and allow the artist to tell a story.
Music channels do not have an overall view on the topic of censorship due to it being a company and lots of people having their say and view upon the topic towards what they think is right and wrong. Theirs view is very neutral due to the fact that they do not own the means of production wight he song,but only advertise it in their music channel. Although, they do have to be very careful what they show due to the possibility of decreased amount of viewers due to explicit content. The music channel MTV came up with a way for all types of viewers to be satisified with their viewings which is to only show uncensored music videos after 9pm. This does minimise the chance of young viewers watching inappropriate music, but can still be a opportunity towards the younger generation(watershed.) The channel then has to be cautious towards what they are previewing towards audiences. However, Eninem is a particular artist which has to be censored the majority of the time throughout music channels due to highly inapropate content. An example of this is one of his songs 'Rap Game,' which has verses which state to threaten the White House. Looking at this in a US government perspective, is actually an illegal statement. Some of his songs are not even allowed to be used due to the risk of some lyrics being sensitive towards certain audiences. In 1999, there was a shooting in a High a School where people were injured and died, some of his songs can relate towards this tragedy and can be very uncomfortable and upsetting. He has since tried to 're-sell' some of his banned songs but companies have found some to be utterly homophobic, especially considering he fact that homosexuality is a lot more accepted recently within the music channel genre. This highlights Music Channels are not too strict with the topic of censorship but value it's purpose as it allows hem to play artists such as Eminem but still censors them due to their lack of respect for certain event/personal choices which can upset a variety of viewers.
Record labels have a variet of views upon the topic of censorship, as there tend to be a lot of people involved within different genres etc. For example: some feel that censorship is nesecary for audiences to be protected from explicit content. Most record labels are cautious when creating/producing songs, being careful to not make it too sensitive where audiences can feel uncomfortable or offended whilst listening to the song or watching the music video. Eminem has his own record label called 'Sahdy Records,' which was launched in 1999 by his manager Paul Rosenburg. Since then, this record label has been successful with signing 10 artists. The type of music avaible towards this particular label is not restrictive towards content that artists feel they wish to express. They tend to not require censorship with her music videos due to their opinion that audiences enjoy artists orginality and creativity within their work. Eminem's song 'Lose Yourself,' (which was produced by his record label) won't the first ever Academy award for the best original song within the hip hop genre. This is a prime example that audiences clearly prefer original work than blurred, boring songs which censorship portrays. Censorship does not succeed in originality due to lots of restrictions and less opportunity to produce new material. If censorship companies continue to censors more songs due to their minor sensitivity, it will then disengage more variety of audiences. Record labels take into consideration that people who are very into the musical entertainment argue censorship only makes the product loose it's sense of attachment towards the audience; as it can become confusing and ruin the whole song. However, they are aware they hold a lot of responsibility if they produce a song which can be seen as too raw for its content, and can loose the companies ratings and good reputation.
Different radio stations appeal to different audiences, hence due to different content being presented, censorship plays a big role in this. BBC radio one is censorship friendly as they have many family viewers. Views artists such as Eminem as inappropriate for the younger generation to listen to. This belief is held due to the artist constantly referring to things such as violence, drugs etc (his song 'Kill Me' is about rape). Not using this type of music on this particular radio channel allows more protection for children and less chance of them coming across such grousome activity. Capital Xtra is known for playing mainly the genre of dance and urban type of music. This channel allows censoring to remove certain lyrics from songs such as swearing. This occurs until 9pm, however; afterwards the radio station presents less censoring in the same form of watershed. This is used to attract more older audiences to enjoy music without it being blurred. This is beneficial for the radio station as they are allowing all types of audiences to tune in and not feel disappointed or unsatisifed. Waiting for the more inappropriate to be played in the later evening is a very effective idea, as it decreases the chance of younger children listening to explicit content which is too old for their age group.
The general and main overview upon censorship is that it can affect artists reputation and popularity in many ways, positively and negatively. Censorship can help particular songs become more popular due to more audiences feeling more comfortable listening to the censored song but also enjoying the beat and the rhythm of the song. However; it can also disengage audiences to not listen to the song due to censorship loosing the originality and creativity of the song. My opinion upon censorship is very positive. I believe it is essential for some music videos and songs to censor out certain parts to dispute any inappropriate context that may occur and mess with a child's mind. Children are able to experience their childhood without it being quickly ruined by artists conveying themselves in a negative manner, such as sexually objectified, drug taking, drinking too much alcohol for their bodies own good and more. Within my music video (Amy Winehouse, In My Bed), I do not think censorship is necessary when creating my own music video. I think this because there are no curse words within the video, which would only make it inefficient to blur out particular words which would play a role and be beneficial within the music video. The only slightly inappropriate thing that is going to be conveyed within the music video is using the female character to be perceived as sexually towards the audience. This is going to be subtly conveyed by using costumes such as short dresses and heavy makeup. This is going to be used as it will be effective to grab a more variety of audiences attention and it will also be part of the storyline to make it all add up towards the type of main character we are using. The flesh on show will be mostly tasteful rather than trashy, but will have elements of not an elegant woman to show her 'I don't care' attitude towards life after her break up.
