Research into music censorship

Should music videos be censored?

Ofcom takes complaints about communication services such as television, radio, magazines, newspapers etc. They have a wide range of powers across these regions. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of the citizens and consumers and aim is to protect the public from what might be harmful or offensive material. The main areas of Ofcom preside over licensing, research, codes and policies, competition and protecting the radio stations from abuse. Whenever viewers and listeners complain about a program they’ve seen or heard. The Ofcom assess it against the code. 

Music artists such as Eminem, Rihanna, LMFAO, Lady gaga etc have had their music videos censored because they have broken boundaries. The reason for doing this is to stop audiences from hearing or seeing what they don’t want to know. In Rihanna’s video ‘Man Down’ it promotes the idea of murder as being a way to battle rape.

We held a class debate in order to get the views of the parents of children who like Rihanna’s songs and allow them to listen to her and those parents who want her videos to be clean and censored in order to allow their children to listen to her safely. We also looked at the views of the fans, the artist, the music producer, and the music radios etc.

The parents who believe Rihanna’s music and videos should be censored believe this is not what children should be listening to parents do not want their children to be fighting fire with fire. They don’t want their children thinking that if Rihanna can shoot a man then it must be ok for them to do so also. Parents ask that she would tone down the drug use, violence and the skimpy clothes in her music videos, to realize she is a role model for little girls and they are going to look up to her so she is causing parents issues. Kiss radio will only play clean-censored music; Rihanna should cut back and stop breaking boundaries.

Rihanna does not believe that her music should be censored because otherwise the music being played to the audience is not a true reflection of the message she is trying to get across, she believes artists have a freedom of speech and should be able to sing whatever they like and not have every other word in their song blanked out because some people may not like it, if you don’t like the music simply don’t listen to it. The narrative is really up to the viewer as to how they interpret the music and the feeling it gives them and what they lyrics mean. The music videos simply present what the artists intentions where when making the song. The record producer states that Rihanna’s fan base isn’t aimed at children but aimed at teenagers and young adults that clearly understand her lyrics and will not copy what she does in her music videos but listens to and watches her for entertainment value.

Parents who allow their children to watch and listen to Rihanna say that if you educate your children properly they will understand that they don’t need to copy Rihanna or idolize her in any sense but that her music is purely for entertainment and that her music shouldn’t be treated any differently to television shows. You don’t ‘ban’ or censor television shows because the main character isn’t an ideal role model. No music artist is going to be perfect and Rihanna isn’t going to change the way she produces music in order to please those who want to listen to her ‘clean’. If you want to listen to her it will have to be how the song was originally wrote.

I can understand that some children or young teenagers are going to listen to Rihanna’s music and enjoy it, they will sing the lyrics and could possibly idolize her. But if their parents teach them the clear difference between right and wrong then there really shouldn’t be a problem. The children probably wont understand the lyrics and if they do then their parents should have taught them whether they think it is ok for them to sing them, if they don’t like the lyrics then they shouldn’t let their children listen to the artist. The artist’s fan base was not made for children it was simply made to get out her messages as an artist in hope that people will agree and appreciate her lyrics. It doesn’t need to be censored; by censoring music you are destroying the song and ruining the artist’s message. Censorship puts a mask over the image of the artist and only portrays them as what Ofcom wants them to be.

When watching the music video for ‘Slim Shady Eminem’ the song is full of bad language racist comments, rude
comments, mocking the mentally insane etc. The artist is an awful role model for children and his music is aimed at older teenagers and young adults the humor in his songs can be viewed as offensive and people really do take it seriously. But I believe that the artist is entitled to have his own music the way he likes it, his music but be enjoyed otherwise he wouldn’t be as popular as he is. His own lyrics are talking about how children known far more than we think they do and they already know about sex and violence so music isn’t going to make a difference at all. 

Research into Goodwin's theory

Research into music channels and target audiences

Music Channels

A) Music Television

 1) The audience for MTV is teenagers and young adults mostly but brands to a wide audience. – Because they show mostly new pop and dance music videos that attract a younger audience.

2) This channel plays the top records in the charts and old classics and some futuristic hits. – This is so it appeals to the majority of audiences.

3) Types of artists presented on MTV are Rhianna, Beyonce & Justin Bieber.

4) Magazine, Geordie Shore, Jersey Shore etc.

5) MTV’s logo is black and white with clear bold font. It stands out and makes a bold statement.

B) VH1

1)    The target audience for VH1 is young adults and teenagers; this is because it displays new releases and futuristic hits so young people will most likely watch/listen to them.

2)    This channel plays pop, dance, R&B, rap, etc. Anything placed within the charts.

3)    Types of artists presented on VH1 are Olly Murs, Katy Perry & Justin Bieber.

4)    This channel is

       5)    The logo appeals to a young audience as the logo displays bright colours such as pink, blue, green and yellow. This allures the younger rather than the elder generation.

C) THE BOX TELEVISION

 1)    The target audience for the box television is mostly for young adults, this is because of their choice of music selection and the types of music they present and play.

2)    This channel plays the 40 biggest hits of that time presenting the most popular bought and played music from around the world.

3)    Types of artists presented on the box Is Will.i.am, Bruno mars &Jason Derulo.

4)  This channel is used to advertise new futuristic songs that have yet to come into the charts allowing them to be heard by audience members gaining them interest and allowing the audience to be familiar to their work

5) The logo used for ‘the box’ is black and white the same as MTV this is to show a bold channel that will stand out in comparison to the rest. The use of black and white allows the channel not to look bias in any way. For example using pink and purple would attract a more feminine audience. The black and white works well and creates a sense of domination

D)  SCUZZ

1) The target audience for the music channel ‘scuzz’ is those who enjoy heavy metal and rock music. This channel is targeted at the more ‘grunge’ audience as it is known for its loud and heavly instrumental music choice. These types of people can range from 12-60. Usually around late 20s.

2) Scuzz play heavy metal and rock music.

3) Examples of the types of music Scuzz play is Blink 182, BlackVeilBrides & Foo Fighters.

4) The channel is used to advertise new bands, host competitions, sell concert tickets and promote festivals by showing interviews.

5) This channel widely appeals to their target audience as it updates them as to when their favourite bands are playing in festivals; it advertises competitions and prizes to fans and allows them to view their band’s music videos.

E) KISS

1) Kiss appeals to a large target audience of around 7- to late 20s. As its ‘clean’ music allows parents to let their children listen to their radio station and their music channel up until watershed times. From morning until 9 o’clock KISS will only play clean and censored music. This means that no swearing or unsuitable content will be shown allowing it to have a young target audience. Although manly aimed at teenagers and young adults kiss targets adults and their trust to therefore allow their children to listen to the station for example on the way to school in the car.

2) This channel plays hip-hop, dance, R&B, house, garage etc. This gives them a large number of audience members. This is useful when wanting to be the biggest radio station and music channel. They need to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

3) They play the following artists music frequently Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.

4) This channel is used to display news, advertising and new singles

5) The logo for this music channel is blue, this is to symbolise a ‘cool’ flowing music channel appealing to all audiences and all ages. It is a light blue which mostly symbolises freedom and peace in reference to their music it allows the audience to relax and enjoy their music.

• Why do you think MTV is broken down into different channels (base, hits, dance, rocks, classic?

I believe that MTV is broken down into different channels because it wants to appeal to a large target audience and to do so they need to cover all genres of music therefore appealing to those who like rock, dance, classic etc. By doing this MTV is not only appealing to the typical ‘teenage/young adult’ market and are extending their viewers/listeners. It is an easy way to earn viewers whereas, a music channel like ‘the box’ will only appeal to teenagers and those who are interested in the hits and futuristic music.

• Why do you music channels are important in appealing to a target audience?

Music channels are important because they allow the audience to get a better insight into their artists song by viewing the video. Videos are allowing the audience to gain the artists true perspective and views of their own song and allow the audience to interact with them on a much deeper level as appose to just listening to the song on their Ipod or the radio.

• Why do you think there are a variety of music channels?

I think there is a variety simple because not everyone likes the same music, by having different music channels it allows the audience to listen to different types of genres, it allows them to listen to something they wouldn’t usually listen to and it is an easy way to create diversity between artists creating a more popular fan base. There is too much music for there to be only one channel. There needs to be multiple channels in order for audiences to be able to switch between songs and genres to their benefit.  

• What have you learnt from analysing music channels and how will it help you with your own production?

I have learnt that in order to appeal to a large target audience my music needs to be clean in order for it to appear on the majority of music channels. I have learnt that music channels are a target for listeners that want the ‘stories within the song’. This will help me with my own production as I know what I need to include in certain genres in order to appeal to my target audience.

What is a music video?