Discussing the censorship of Music Videos and who controls it, the advantages and disadvantages of regulation and what could be improved

1. CENSORSHIP & REGULATION
MUSIC VIDEOS

2. WHAT IS CENSORSHIP?
Censorship blocks something from being read, heard or seen. This is the action
of removing or hiding parts that are considered unacceptable. This can be by
banning people under a certain age from purchasing or seeing the item or
warning those about its content.
Sometimes, the item will be released but with sounds of clips removed from
the media. For example bleeping out explicit language or deleting graphic
scenes.

3. MUSIC VIDEO CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Music videos began being released in the 1960s, but started becoming more prominent in the 1980s, when
they became mainstream. The first videos became very famous and well known, like Michael Jackson’s
‘Thriller’.
Many videos were not regulated and anybody could watch them. If they believed they were too explicit,
they were banned, like Queen’s 1982 music video ‘Body Language’, which they believe had too many shots
of skin. They then also began to edit several music videos to make sure they were viewable to the
audience, like ‘’Girls on Film’’ by Duran Duran, which was aired, despite the fact that the original contained
woman fighting named in the mud.
Madonna is the artist most associated with music video censorship. This is because the marketing of
Madonna’s sexuality in her videos began to increase with time until she was banned by MTV for including
sadomasochism, homosexuality, cross-dressing and group sex in her video, ‘Justify My Love’.
Previously, censorship was either editing or banning the music video. Today, it is very much the same, but
CD covers include warnings, such as ‘explicit language’, so that parents can decided whether or not they
want their children to listen to songs with bad language.

4. RECENTLY BANNED VIDEO
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke was banned in 2013 as “the language within the lyric and the images within
the promotional video are utterly degrading to the female subject.” The video has been widely criticised
for glorifying rape and violent sex, with lyrics that “implies a woman is ‘an animal’ who ‘wants it’ because
the way she is dressed is not acceptable”.
This could affect people using the hypodermic syringe theory. This theory states that the audience is easily
influenced by what they see in the media. It is possible that having watched this video, people have begun
to believe women of be inferior to man and perhaps have been treated inhumanely because they have
watched the video and have themselves begun to see woman as animals.

5. WHO IS TO BLAME?
When someone is affected by the media, I believe that both artist and affected would be to blame. When
the lyrics clearly suggest an idea, such as ‘Blurred Lines’, I would find them to be guilty of giving the idea to
someone to act indecently. But I feel that those who act are the only one's who can be punished. I feel
that is someone were to do something nasty or evil, their personality must allow them to be that kind of
person, perhaps the video merely suggested what they do, but that does not change the fact that they are
okay with the idea of doing it. I believe people can be influenced to do things that they would themselves.

6. OFCOM
Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK and protects the public from harmful or offensive
material. They will examine complaints from viewers or listeners about programmes broadcasted on
channels that it has licensed. This can relate to music videos shown on their channels.
Ofcom will then study the item and decide if it breaches broadcasting code and will act accordingly,
whether that includes banning the video, posting a more acceptable version or by removing indecent
words from the video.

7. WATERSHED ON MTV
The Watershed is a way of regulating music videos on TV Channels, such as MTV. Videos that not
considered viewable by those who are underage are placed later during the day, this could be because
they include themes such as sexual content, graphic violence, distressing imagery and swearing. In the UK,
the watershed begins a 9PM and ends at 5:30AM, when adult content can be viewed. However, parents
cannot always regulate what is watched and underage children often watch television past 9PM.
Only recently has the Watershed been introduced to music videos. This is because Ofcom received many
complaints of indecent videos shown during the day that should not be viewed by a younger audience.

8. MUSIC VIDEO CENSORSHIP
Methods of censoring music audio are:
• Blanking: word is completely removed and replaced with silence
• Bleeping: Inserting a bleeping noise over the word
• Resampling: overriding the word with other vocals
• Resinging: Replacing the word with another that is more appropriate
• Repeating: Repeating the world said before
• Skipping: Skipping the curse word without time delay
• Distorting: The word is distorted, normally by shifting down the pitch

9. YOUTUBE
YouTube is a website where all kinds of videos can be found. There are many providers, such as Vevo, that
allow music videos to be played on this website. There is a small amount of regulation in who can watch
these videos as the viewer must own an account, which shows their age. This means that if the video is not
viewable unless they are of the age expected. However, it is possible to lie about your age when signing up
for an account, and therefore it is not particularly secure.

10. MUSIC VIDEO REGULATION
Advantages
• Allows parents/carers to be aware of what they
wish to show their children
• Regulation stops youth from watching indecent
videos
• People can watch videos that are considered
acceptable for their ages
• Videos that are unacceptable are edited or
banned from being viewed
Disadvantages
• Children can watch music videos behind their
parents back on Ipads and other media
equipment
• Many children stay up watching TV past the
watershed
• People can be easily influenced by the media
and might act on what they have seen
• People can easily bypass regulation and view
videos not suitable for them

11. FUTURE
To further protect society from harmful or offensive music videos, I would create pin codes for music
videos suitable for those over 16 and 18. The pin would be given to the adults of the household to provide
their children with once they are the correct age. This would be used on all online sites, such as YouTube,
Spotify and Itunes as well as on TV channels.