Censorship - Miss Miller

Censorship is the suppression of content within the music industry, throughout both the music videos and songs themselves. Censorship is used to protect audiences from inappropriate material which is not suitable for a certain age, or which exceeds what is deemed to be acceptable to be shown on television or on youtube and other outlets. Most often, censored material is shown before the watershed (which occurs from before 9PM GMT), therefore enabling parents the peace of mind that it would be harder for younger viewers to access mature material during daylight hours.

Censorship is used to protect viewers from taking offense to the content creators music at hand. This could potentially benefit the artist as it could protect there image and avoid criticism from the public, although it could also do this but in a detrimental way if they have an established image which appeals towards a teenage audience, which is often associated towards rebellion and such. A negative for many content creators (often those that belong under the rap or RnB genre of music) is that it can harm the way in which they are portrayed in the media. This is as the image they try to give themselves and maintain, which is often of rebellion; often referencing themes of drugs, violence and such cannot contain this in there music. This can have a detrimental on the popularity of an artist as they might end up producing "softer" lyrical content, which isn't appealing towards there target audience.

Censorship for music on television and the radio take place before the watershed at 9pm GMT, to which explicit versions of the songs are allowed to be aired from that point onwards. In regards to music videos, two versions of the song will often be created if the original song is of an explicit nature, to which the edited version would the one easiest to access online, and would be aired on television. This enables audiences to be more protected to sensutuve content, although despite this it would still be easily accessible via online means

Ofcom is the communications regulator. They regulate a number of things, including both the TV and radio sectors and a number of other outlets. There role in terms of music videos, songs and artists is to make sure that the content which can be seen, with the intentions of censoring sensitive material. Any material deemed to be of an adult nature would be shown after the watershed after 9pm GMT. They are an essential part of the music industry, as they are at the core of what is visible to daylight audiences, having a large impact upon the consumption of music videos for viewers.

In regards to artists, Ofcom is often seen as having a detrimental affect towards there work, preventing them to voice what they wish, often jeopardizing there right to creative freedom and free speech, although others would argue that this is done with the intent for the general greater good by preventing potentially sensitive material from younger listeners/ viewers. This often results in artists having to creative radio edits and non explicit versions to any songs which are deemed to be of a controversial nature , a prime example of this being the 2005 song from Eminem called "Stan" which had multiple versions created for different viewing purposes. 

An example of an artist which has had there work censored would be Eminem, which has happened on a large number of songs. This is often due to the controversial nature of his songs, which has come under criticism in the past, to which his music in present day is more tame, although there are clear examples from previous years which his music contains controversial lyrical content and visuals in music videos.

One of Eminems songs which is probably the most controversial of them is a song which was released in the early 2000's named "Kim" named after his wife at the time which he was having relationship issues with, to which the song expresses his anger and hatred for both the relationship and Kim herself. The song itself was in fact banned from being played on radio stations, music channels; some of the few ways of actually being able to hear the song came via the internet and non monitored means. Here are a few examples of lyrics which can be taken from the song:

See it all makes sense, doesn't it?
You and your husband have a fight
One of you tries to grab a knife
And during the struggle he accidentally gets his Adam's apple sliced

Another example of lyrics throughout which were brought up as being insensitive and causing controversy is:

Now shut the fuck up and get what's coming to you
You were supposed to love me
[Kim choking]
NOW BLEED! BITCH, BLEED!
BLEED! BITCH, BLEED! BLEED!

Its clear to see why such lyrics which have been shown were the root of controversy, containing lyrics which would be said to be extremely graphic and inappropriate, not only just for a younger viewer but just for viewers in general.

There are various other examples of songs to a similar nature (but not quite to such a graphic extent) which have caused controversy, only being aired when having censored edits created. Another example would be one of Eminem's more deeper rooted songs, linking towards a real event from his life at the time. The song named "Stan" was released in the year of 2005, part of Eminems curtain call album. Multiple versions of the song have been created for its music video, an extended version (raw and explicit version) and the edited version for TV and radio purposes. The song is about the true story portraying the events of a obessed Eminem fan which loses his life in a drink driving accident, to which the song has an explicit nature to it, containing strong language and sensitive content. Examples of such throughout consist of:



Eminem 

Eminem stated how he says what he wants when he wants to say and does what he wants to do. Therefore Eminem believes that statements he may come out, or lyrics that may be present throughout his music should not be taken as anything offense from intent, as they are just broad remarks, terms and phrases he simply wishes to say and nothing more. Therefore Eminem believes that he has a right to do such through freedom of speech and creative freedom.

Also stating that if your gonna take anything from his music, it should be in the form of inspiration. He believes that if anyone finds his music offense or possibly depressed, they should acknowledge this and build upon it and themselves as a foundation of self improvement. From doing so this gives him the ability to express his creative freedom throughout whatever way he pleases, even if it may be a tad "colourful" at times.

The songs are not purposely aggressive per say, the lyrics depend on the beat and feel. Eminems music has been iconic for this in the past, and besides this his modern day work is more tame to that of previously, but despite this the aggressive nature of his music Eminem wishes to emphasize 

A lot of his songs are like this and of this nature due to his bad life experiences as his songs are often based upon his life experiences. If he wishes to talk about his previous experiences that's his own choice which shouldn't be taken aware from him. He is respected by his following because of such adversity which he faced in years beforehand, and telling stories of which in a creative way shouldn't be taken away from his fans for the use of language or themes. 

From making his songs about his life experiences, this allows for people to make a personal connection to the music. If he was to make his music more tame in regards to what he has experienced in his life, it may prevent his fan base from creating a relationship with him, which would be a bad thing for how relate able he is as a media icon, in turn making his music less accessible to people. From changing the way in which he creates and portrays his content, this could also result in him becoming too mainstream, which isn't Eminem or the star that the media and his fans have become familiar with over the years. 

The things said may shock people but he doesn't act in that way. The way in which he talks shouldn't have to automatically be interpreted as being the way he acts or the person he is, to which he should generally be taken more lightly and less seriously. Acting in such a way and shocking people is beneficial for himself because of the media coverage he then receives which could excite his fans and expose more people to the content which is obviously beneficial. 

His songs may be negative but it doesn't mean he actually does these things. If he does say something negative people should build upon this and take it as a stepping stone for there own person improvement rather than knocking Eminem down for expressing his right to his creative freedoms 

Its others decisions weather or not they wish to take what I say literally, which is not the case. People are always going to interpret things in different ways, which Eminem cant change for every individual so he wishes to continue to say what he feels like. People can take offense to anything, so saying what he feels like can be used as a release, as people may get offended by anything regardless

Artists should be able to express themselves and have creative freedom. Censorship as a whole prevents them from being able to have this, to which has a knock on affect to the artist themselves as well as there portrayal/ media identity and fan base. 

He believes that the argument about protecting children and the youth is stupid, which is coming from a parents perspective as he is a father himself. Eminem has stated that he believes that Its a parents duty to protect there own children as to what they are able to watch and have access to. Some parents may not mind there children being exposed to explicit language or adult themes.  

Record label 

The record label at hand is Shady records, which was created after the success of Slim shady, 

Eminem needed to create a new record label to properly portray himself and his own music. From doing so this enabled him to work around the restrictions which would be present if belonging to a big corporal company, which let him fully utilise his right to creative freedom by letting him release explicit songs without having it aired less or being dubbed even before release. 

Eminem acknowledges the bad content in regards to children being exposed to it, being a father himself. As he is a father, he's well aware of how easy it is to access content online regardless, so when it comes to himself and his own music, he believes that children of this generation are exposed to worse stuff on a daily basis when online. Also being a father, he has the right to let his children listen to whatever they wish, and he believes the same principal applies to other parents and there children, so if they believe that an artist like himself is a bad influence they should simply stop them from being able to listen to his music to the best of there ability, rather than having content censored which ruins the work for others that wish to listen to the original version of a song, and once again he emphases how the children will probably find a way to listen to explicit versions of his songs regardless. 

Through the controversy of his videos, the audience likes it which therefore contributes to the popularity of his videos. Videos which have a sense of controversy to them are often see as being more appealing in general, and he has never been afraid to take this upon and apply it towards his own work. Although saying this, what is deemed to be controversial is subjective, therefore some parents may see the video as being fine for there children whereas others may not see it the same way, causing a divid. 

Eminem trys to emphasis how music is an art form, and a very big one at that which is used to help artists express themselves, books and art is not censored so why is music he states? Going on this basis, expressing himself surely shouldn't come across as a bad thing for the sake of freedom of speech and expression, as he is just trying to portray his work and artwork to his fans as a content creator. Adding on from previously, surely as a book is in a physical form it is more damaging than simply listening to a song

If it was so negative and bad why is it so popular, and an artist like Eminem and his songs are so well known. If anyone was truly that bad, or offensive towards a large group of people someone like himself wouldn't gather such an incredibly large following, which only continues to grow in popularity to this day. He is very well known for expressing his own feelings and life experiences into his content, which many people appreciate and have grown to respect about the artist. 

Been very successful, probably down to Eminem being able to create himself and to have less restrictions on his lyrical content. From having aspects of his content which can be said to be questionable and controversial at times only builds up his media persona as well as his portrayal as a person. Without having his creative freedom which is taken through censorship, he would have been unable to clearly identify himself in the music industry which was hugely assisted through the use of controversy and his general portrayal, which has resulted in him being the musical phenomenon that he is today.

At the end of the day its simply entertainment, and doesn't have to be taken literally. Eminem trys to express in a large number of his interviews which a lyric or a statement he has come out with has come under media attention, that his content is just entertainment and shouldn't be taken so literally, rather to just be enjoyed. Or alternately as mentioned previously, to gather inspiration from. 

Parents for censorship

Protecting the innocence of the child is an essential part of parents for the censorship of inappropriate content. If there isn't a higher authority there to establish what material is deemed to be appropriate to be aired to younger audiences, the youth of the current generation could be damaged from the content they are exposed to, which is often of themes of sexism, racism, adult themes as a whole and explicit language. Parents for censorship believe it is morally wrong for children to be exposed to such things. 

Parents for censorship want there children to be able to listen to whatever they want without fearing of there children being exposed to inappropriate or sensitive material. Through censoring the inappropriate parts within songs, this enables children to listen to the music, while giving the parents the peace of mind of knowing whatever they are listening to is age appropriate and clean. 

They believe that an easy way to work around other members of the public and music fans that wish to listen to explicit songs/ versions of the songs there is a solution for without putting childrens innocence at risk. This can be done by making explicit and censored versions to be played during daylight hours, and then passed the watershed explicit versions of the song can be listened to. On top of this, in regards to accessing music via forms of social media such a YouTube, two versions of the song can be made and the explicit version will have a warning on before playing it, informing the viewer/ listener of the explicit content. 

Parents against censorship

Some parents may see restricting children as a good thing, educating them on it makes them aware of censored material being bad. They state how they dont want a generation of  naive children. They can then educate them on the topics at hand at a younger age so that they are fully prepared for later life. 

They say that there is no evidence to support music videos causing negative behavior in children. Therefore is it really necessary for a tame and toned done version of a song to be the most likely to be shown/ viewed if the theory is groundless and has no empirical evidence to support it. 

Some would say that in child murder cases, they were children which were exposed to inappropriate content which caused them to commit such acts.  In nearly every circumstance they suffer from a disease which comes from a biological cause. Due to which it is wrong to create a groundless theory that such a minor things such as adult things and explicit language would cause something so extreme

As a parent you should have control over what your children watch and listen to. A parent should be the one in full control over what there children are exposed to and what they are allowed to watch, they shouldn't automatically be forced into being told what is suitable for there children to be exposed to, which should be there choice and decision. 

Fans

Music is a way of expressing opinions, censorship prevents creative freedom. Without having creative freedom it prevents a break from convention and for content creators to explore new realms of music and ideas that haven't been heard before. Without creative freedom the music industry wouldnt be the same, as it woudnt be able to appeal to such a large group of people from all different ranges of the world.  

Eminem song "Kim" is most controversial, although as he said he says bad things but doesn't do bad things. The lyrics in a song dont have to be taken seriously, and it doesn't mean that an artist actually believes in what hes saying or that he acts in a way that is shown in the lyrics of the song. 

Audience may be able to relate to his experience and/ or respect his opinion. Through censoring the full extent of the message or ideal he is fully trying to portray may be less visible. This is bad as it prevents Eminem from being able to express what he believes in and to show this to his fan base/ following; in tern getting rid of his right to the freedom of speech and his creative freedom as content creator.

Uses his music as a form of sublimation for his negative emotions. If he wasn't able to include this within his music and get it out of his system, the way in which he makes himself out to be in his songs could become a reality if he isn't allowed to produce and release music which is telling the way he feels to the media.

His songs are an insight into his life, censorship can ruin the message he is trying to convey to his many fans. Censoring prevents the full extent of a life experience from being shown and re- told, which could be bad because Eminem may feel as if he is shadowing his past from his fans, to which he is iconic for his songs which have personal importance and meaning towards them, which also gives his following a better insight into him as an individual and the struggles he had in previous years which others may be able to relate to.

In his song "stan", some words were censored which ruined it.  In the MTV full version, which is 8:15 long, verse 3 censors Stan mentioning his girlfriend in the trunk to which ruins the flow of the song, and the emotional aspect which is present throughout the original which was highly regarded for such. Admittedly the content throughout would be considered by some as being inappropriate, yet the controversy around it could be the reason to the success of the song in the first pace.

Hes passionate about music and trys to push the boundaries of his creative freedom. Censorship prevents this from occurring and him releasing new material which defies the norms of what is expected upon in the music industry and the media in general. Without this every artist would be generic, Eminem has always stood out for the darker/ more controversial side of his content.
Some say his modern songs are tame now, which could be the result of censorship, and due to which he has been mentioned noticeably less in the media and his content is not nearly as popular as years previously. This is as the majority of his following love the fact he is so controversial and through the use of censoring this is taken away from him and his following.

MTV

MTV are very well known to not take lightly on the topic of censorship, being very strict on the case. Although in regards to artists such as eminem and other rappers, they say this is with good reason as some of the content throughout isn't just harmful to the youth, but can also be sexist, homophobic and so on, so to please the viewers of the music channel only certain music videos can be viewed, to which they usually have edited and censored sections.

Censored during the day, past the watershed the songs are more explicit, the watershed taking place at 9PM GMT, where videos such as the explicit version of Eminems "Stan" would be allowed to be shown without coming under any legal action for showing sensitive material.

Eminem particularly has been shown to not be very frequently played on MTV, for the reason of his content being outright inappropriate at times. In some of his older work, he actually threatens to kill a member of congress. Although its been said that in recent years he has been said to have toned down with his content, this clearly isn't the case in the song "Vegas" which he released in 2014, to which it contains the lines:

“So swallow my pride you’re lucky just to follow my ride. If I let you run alongside the Humvee. Unless you’re Nicki, grab you by the wrist, let’s ski. So what’s it gon’ be? Put that s*** away Iggy. You don’t wanna blow that rape whistle on me. Scream! I love it. ‘Fore I get lost with the gettin’ off.”

This is pretty clear as to why lyrics such as this belong to be censored, and as to why censorship is useful tool for eradicating

Pretty clear why his lyrics are censored, some of the stuff he says is actually illegal. Eminem is iconic for saying stuff within his songs which has caused uproar in the media. Moving along from the song "vegas" in which the theme of rape is present, the song "love the way you lie" ft Rihanna there are also a number of themes which are present throughout that many would seem to be inappropriate. Examples of some lyrics from that song include the following:

"I don't even know his name."
I laid hands on her, I'll never stoop so low again
I guess I don't know my own strength

[Chorus - Rihanna:]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts


Dont feel as if sensitive topics can be within songs. This is as a TV network such as the likes of MTV is so large and popular and is viewed by a huge number of people, branching out to an incredibly large fan base, to which a number of these could find some sensitive topics offence and not suited for such public broadcasting.

Hes very homophobic, so content in relation to that has to be reworded as it is a sensitive topic, and is sensitive due to the political affects these songs and lyrics have because of how homosexual relations is now seen in the united states

Radio

The radio is connected to family channels, therefore it needs to be censored. This is done with the intentions of parents in mind, attempting to satisfy them by preventing any mature, explicit damaging content is not exposed to young children. By doing so it keeps the radio station family friendly and appeals towards such.

Eminem's song references lots of bad things which are not appropriate for a younger audience. This is evident with a large number of Eminems songs, which can range from inappropriate material such as sexist comment, to themes of an adult nature within the song lyrics; the most common inappropriate thing present throughout his content simply being the use of explicit language, to which is censored to protect listens.

Children can be impressionism so they should be protected by bad content. It is essential that children are not exposed to any damaging content via easily accessible means such as the radio. This is one big reason as to why it is essential to censor material so that the youth of today are not negatively influenced from a young age. The artists which would often perform on the radio children look up to as stars and idols, if they continue to maintain a bad example as there persona or create on, children need to be protected by this side of content creators from a young age. This prevents any negative influences such a children repeating explicit lines or phrases which are present throughout the songs.