Censorship

Do You Think Music Video's Should Be Censored?

Censorship is a law that has been put into place by the government so that various media texts can be monitored and controlled. This is done so that some of the public such as young children for example will not hear rude or explicit material on television and computer or hear on the radio. Sometimes various artists will not censor sexually explicit or taboo language in their music video's because of the target audience they are trying to aim for. Therefore censoring video's will be down to the music channels who play the video. 

Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting of different media texts. It is up to OFCOM whether they censor video's or choose for them not to be shown at all which may be down to explicit language or visually explicit material. 

An example of censorship on a music video is the video 'Every Girl'  by Lil Wayne and Drake. Every other line in the lyrics has a swear word that gets blanked. However due to the amount of taboo language in the song most of the song is actually just blanked out. This may of been done by OFCOM or by the artists record label or just individually by Vevo or music channels.

Certain artists in the music industry believe that music video's shouldn't be censored as that is the image that they are trying to bring across as an artist. They also believe that music and music video's are just a form of entertainment not to be taken too seriously therefore OFCOM should not be allowed to censor their video's. A video that could be considered highly inappropriate is Rihanna's 'We Found Love' as throughout the whole video there is referencing to drug and alcohol abuse, however as Rihanna is such a well known largely liked artist by all ages it may be difficult to decide whether to censor this video or not. 

Eminem is the most well known white rapper in the world since the Beastie Boys. There is a lot of controversy that not only surrounds his video's but also his lyrics. The debate held in class as to whether Eminems songs and video's should be censored was from different points of view such as Eminem himself, parents of children for and against, MTV representative, the record label and fans. Eminem's point of view was that he feels as though it is essential for him to express his emotions and his life so far through his music. He believes in freedom of speech and that it is why he chooses to sing using taboo and offensive language not only about the public but other artists such as Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. He does this to potentially build a relationship with the audience as it him being himself uncaring to others points of view or opinions.

Eminem owns his own record label 'Shady Records' therefore has the full backing of his record company behind him. As long as he is making a profitable amount of money there is no problem from the record labels point of view as to what Eminem puts out.

Eminem is banned from being played on radio stations such as Kiss and also MTV music channel since the beginning of his career because of the offensive language used as it will be seen as easy access to younger viewers who are not permitted to watch video's like this. Also because these channels cater to wide audience of all ages and genre's therefore they would rather not play one artist and have a few not watch there channel than play Eminem and have more people not wish to watch the channel or ban their children from watching it. 

In an interview with Eminem he stated that if children take his video's out of context and do bad things with idea's from his songs then that is not necessarily down to the artist himself but possibly how the child has been brought up or is just 'crazy'. Eminem can be considered as a good or bad role model. He could be a good role model as although he has had a lot bad things happen in his life so far, he has still made it as one of the world's largest and influential stars in history possibly proving no matter how bad your life was or is there is nothing that can stop you from doing what you love. On the other hand, Eminem can be considered a bad role model as he sings using taboo language, using inappropriate material about other artists which can be copied by younger children.

My personal opinion of this debate about Eminem is that he makes good music, sells a lot of records and has a large fanbase. He would not have all of those if he was not a good artist or considered as some sort of role model to his fanbase. Eminem has proved that no matter what your past is, it doesn't have to effect or influence your future. Enimem argued that music and music video's are just a form of entertainment. I find this fact to be true therefore should not be taken too seriously. Taking this specific comment out of the debate, it is true and it is up to the parent or carer to take specific precautions when it come's to what they allow their children to watch or listen to.