Should music videos be censored?- Miss Miller

Censorship is where music videos are blurred out for example naked woman or lyrics are slightly changed from bad language to every day words to protect audiences such as the younger generation. On music channels in the day time music videos are censored to protect young audiences as they are likely to be watching them in the day however once it gets to a certain time such as 10 o clock censors are turned off and the original song is played. Also on the radio songs are censored so that the younger audiences don't hear swearing for example. 

Ofcom are an law/act that make sure that people listening/watching music videos are protected from harmful or offensive material. In 2003 an act was introduced where ofcom further the interests the citizens and of consumers. Also people are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes and from having there privacy invaded. However they do not deal with the content in radio and television adverts. A music video that has been censored is Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. It was also banned from YouTube as it was too provocative and younger viewers may find it offensive. It was censored as featured in the video are naked women dancing around Robin Thicke. There are two versions of the video, the censored one and the original. 
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Censorship is a controversial subject within the music industry. In class we had a debate around censorship and the artists Rihanna and Eminem as these specific artists music/videos are censored. Rihannas song s&m has been censored. Eminems songs that have been censored are 'The Monster' 'Rap God' and 'Love the way you lie'. We had different roles such as Eminem, Rihanna, Parents For censorship, parents against censorship, Fans, British music Channels and British radio stations. By having the debate made me see all different perspectives on censorship. 



In class the people who played Eminem explained how his music shouldn't been censored as his music expresses what he went through as he had a hard early life therefore his lyrics are inspiring and should be listened too so people can learn from his mistakes. There were two people who played Eminem, both of them thought that his music should be played without being censored. Eminem also believes that the music when he was younger never affected to him so his explicit music shouldn't affect todays younger generation. He also said that music doesn't influence children, if kids are bad they are brought up to be bad. He also believes that music is just a form of entertainment so his music shouldn't be censored as it can teach people lessons in life. Also Eminem said that his album Marshall Mathers LP sold over 10 millions copies which shows how successful and that hes a powerful artist therefore his music should not be censored. 

The two people who had the role of Rihanna said similar things to Eminem. Rihanna said she was upset when she found out her song 'S&M' had been censored due to the fact that her songs are metaphors rather than experiences so her songs shouldn't be censored. She also said that music is just a form of entertainment therefore audiences should be able to listen to the explicit version.

 The record labels of Eminem and Rihanna are for censorship as they believe this will widen there audiences as songs can be played on many things such as radio, television and supermarkets/shops. However they are against censorship as they believe that it ruins the songs and the reputation of artists. 

Parents who are for censorship explained during the debate that explicit language and sexual videos should be censored as it can have an influence on children which will result in them believing that this is acceptable. It can promote wrong images to the younger society. They said that artists like Eminem and Rihanna shouldn't use explicit language as they believe it is unnecessary. Also younger children may look up to artists like Rihanna and Eminem however they present a bad role model for them as they swear and there music videos are not clean which may inspire them to be like them.

 Parents who were against censorship explained that videos should not be censored and its up to the parents what there children should watch as it impacts the older generation as they cant watch or listen to the explicit version. Parents who are against censorship also say that children will listen to explicit versions as they have access to YouTube therefore censorship is pointless. They also say that children should know the difference to right and wrong therefore music shouldn't affect the way that they behave. 

The fans of Eminem and Rihanna are mostly again censorship as they believe it ruins the song quality as blurring out words disinterests the audience. Also by putting in censors in music videos they wont fully understand the song as the lyrics wont be able to link with the visuals. Fans also want to hear what the artist has to say without censors. They believe that when music videos are censored they get bored of the video as it doesn't represent there artist fully. 

There were two different people representing music channels. One was for censorship and the other was against censorship. Music channels are for censorship as they don't want a bad reputation and want to gain audiences from all different ages. They also don't want people complaining so they try to keep all audiences happy from censoring videos in the day and playing explicit videos at night time. Other channels like AKA are against censorship as they would like to represent the true artist so they dislike censoring videos and music. 

Radio stations also have a mixed view on censorship. Most radio stations censor songs as many children listen to the radio therefore they have to protect them from harmful content otherwise people may complain. Censorship also gains a wider audience as the young and the older generation would be able to listen to the radio. However some radio stations are against censorship as they believe that children are able to guess the blurred out words so censorship is pointless and impacts the older generation. 

Censorship can affect artists in many ways. It can restrict them from expressing there true feelings through the lyrics and also in music videos. I believe there shouldn't be censorship as i believe the original song is always better and parents can just teach kids what right and wrong so music doesn't influence them. Also artists shouldn't be censored so they can express there true feelings which may be life lessons to the young. The artists i just looked at in my opinion are just expressing there feelings and shouldn't be taken so seriously. 

I wont follow the censorship rules in my production as i believe this will restrict of what we can do in the video therefore making it less interesting. We will use an uncensored version of my artists song as I believe uncensored songs are more powerful than censored songs.