Research into censorship

Censorship is the ways in which an audience is protected from learning about or hearing or seeing harmful information. For example, on television or in the music industry, swearing or harmful references are often cut out, replaced by "clean" versions of the song. Censorship is used every day throughout all aspects of media, but especially since the growth in new technologies that has made it easier for music artists to express themselves, as this has lead to the music industry experiencing a rise explicit videos. *

Ofcom play a huge role in censorship. Ofcom is the regulator and competition of authority for UK communications industries. It regulates tv and radio, fixed telecoms, postal services, mobiles and the airwaves which wireless devices use. Members of the public who watch television and/or listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material by the regulations that Ofcom put in place. That is what ofcom do to every form of media on a regular basis to make sure it isn't offensive in anyway and cannot harm viewers or listeners, Ofcom also have a board of directors that will decide whether or not something is in violation of censorship regulations and rules and hasn't been dealt with professionally. Ofcom are the judge and jury of whether or not a song requires censorship, and when it has been, the song is shown on television, if the TV channel do not comply with showing the censored version of a song on their network before the watershed (9pm), Ofcom could give them a fine, as shown by fines they have given to grime and rap music channel "Channel AKA" for instance. 

Censorship from an artists (Eminem) point of view (against)

As a music artist, Eminem wants to be able to do and say what he likes without having to worry about whether it will require censorship ages will be filtered. Eminem uses most of his songs to motivate his fans he wants them to feel that that if you put your mind to your goals, you can achieve anything, like he feels he has done with his music, and the poor background he came from, pretty much making it big from nothing and being an inspirational success story.
Eminem has previously gone out of his way before to offend some individuals, such as Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, however it is mainly intended for satirical and light hearted purposes, he uses his music as a way of releasing any negativity that he has inside of him, for example "kim". He listens and feels the beat of the music, and then writes down how the music makes him feel, expressing his feelings and what comes to his mind. Most of his songs are based on negative experiences that he has had in his life, as he wants his audience to be able to relate to his songs and make an emotional connection with them, and feel like they can embrace and conquer these situations when faced with them.
He argues that even though sometimes the lyrics of some of his songs may offend people, for example, those that make references to drugs and rape, that he himself has never, nor would he ever take part in those kind of activities, and promote that kind of lifestyle to anyone listening to his music, he wants to also spread positve messages, therefore his audience should know not to take his lyrics literally if they can be offensive.
It is not the role of an artist to censor their music, parents are ultimately in charge of deciding what their kids can and cannot listen to. Overall, censorship is not a permanent tool for protecting children from harmful content If they want to listen to the explicit version of a song, they will find a way, on websites such as youtube where the clean version is available as well as the un-edited where the children can easily choose which they want to listen to.

Censorship from the record label's point of view (against)
Eminem, alongside his manager Paul Rosenberg founded Shady Records following the extreme pressure he felt he was under to use censorship in his songs. The pair thought that it was down to the parents to decide and 'censor' what their kids should listen to, not him as the artist.
Shady records do know that audience's like controversy in music, it can make more sales, otherwise artists like Eminem would not be as popular as they are, nor experience that high level of success. If the songs that these artists produce are really as bad as people make them out to be, and do indeed require censorship, then why would many people invest into it and listen?
Also, music is just another example of an art form that is used to express how an artist is feeling, similar to art and books. However, artwork and books are not censored, swearing is free in books, and controversial art is never censored, so why should music be restricted and supressed? Shady records produces music that audience's wants to hear, it is censor free and is given on a plate for what it is directly to their audience, who enjoy hearing it, which is proven by the fact that over the years they have won several awards. Songs are mainly for entertainment purposes, and audiences should know better than to take them literally and to heart.

Censorship from a parents point of view (for)
Parents want to be able to let their children watch whatever they want to without having to worry about whether they are being exposed to harmful materials and images, such as drugs and alcohol. They want to be able to protect, but also trust their "innocent" children without feeling like they are being to restrictive and controlling about what their kids can and cannot watch. Censorship provides parents with the security that young children are being prevented from listening to inappropriate material that should only be available to the more mature and older listeners Would an artist want their own children to be exposed to material similar to the material that they could potentially be exposing other children to?

(Against)
Parents, at the end of the day, are responsible for what their children can and cannot listen to, it is their choice. However, they need to understand that children pick things up easily, especially in a world today with such big technological advance, meaning there are more ways than ever to find material, not just from the music industry, but also through watching the television, by reading the newspaper, through events that take place in their everyday life which hear with their own ears in person and they and also easily online, such as watching on youtube. Therefore, children should be educated to know what is bad, otherwise parents will end up with naïve and curious children, who may even end up surpressing their kids.
There is no evidence to support the statement that music creates negativity amongst children and there never will be. If a child has a mental illness, this can not be made worse or influence by explicit music videos, or the content within the songs.

Censorship for the fans point of view (against)
Music is an artists way of expressing themselves to their fans, showing them who they really are, but censorship is arguably blocking the creative freedom that artists have. In his song 'Kim', Eminem raps about murdering his wife, which most people understand to be an illegal thing to do, and it can also come across as not only graphic, but very offensive, however Eminem has made it clear that it is something he would never do. All he wants is for his fans to be able to make an emotional connection to his songs, feel like they can relate to his sitautions and for people to respect his opinion and freedom of speech regarding these serious topics. When he raps, Eminem often opens up about his personal life which appeal to his fans who want to keep up to date and know about their favourite artists experiences and be able to get to know him more. The use of censorship may restrict the information that Eminem can put across to his fans, and they may not get or understand the full meaning of the message. Furthermore, some of Eminem's songs have more of a suggestive meaning, which may not be as obvious when the use of censorship is blocking out some key parts to his songs, which could be the main selling point. Also, censorship often ruins the rhythm of the song, which therefore takes away from the effec and may make it sound less attractive and catchy.
Eminem does not encourage violence, nor endorse it, he just likes to see how far he can push the boundaries of his creative freedom and wants to inspire others to do the same, to not feel surpressed. However, the tameness of Eminem's more recent songs tells us that censorship is beginning to take a toll on his music, as he is taking a more "mainstream" approach.


Censorship from the music television channel MTV's point of view (for)
MTV have always been strict on their use of censorship, ever since their introduction on television. During the day, most of the songs that MTV play are censored as they know that there is a higher chance of kids listening, as it is peak hours and not post-watershed. In contrast, during the evening censorship is not as strict. In one of his songs, Eminem threatens to kill a congressman from the white house, which is obviously an illegal thing to do. Also, in 1999 following a shooting that took place at a high school in America, censorship was necessary to prevent artists from exploiting the sensitive issue in order to make money. This was proof that some of his views cannot be taken as a joke. Eminem has also released songs that make homophobic references, which arguably shows just how backwards Eminem is as an artist. Especially now that gay marriage has been made legal in all 50 states in the USA, which shows us that times are moving forward, and eminem has an ignorrant and naive view. It could be argued that Eminem uses the controversy of his songs as a marketing tool. People want to listen to his music just to see how far he is willing to push his creative freedom, and to see what his boundaries are.


AKA (against)
AKA aims to establish unknown artists and allow and respect an artists creative freedom, in order to gain popularity. They understand that most artists, Eminem included, use their music as a way to express their often life stories, and that the use of censorship often prevents artists from saying what they want to say. In 2005, the AKA channel was fined £18,000 by Ofcom due to the fact that it played a song that contained inappropriate material. The channel argues that it has learnt from this mistake as they have not been fined since, so clearly the music they are now playing is not inappropriate.
Censorship from BBC radio 1's point of view (for)

Radio 1 is own by the BBC, which is also home to channels such as CBBC and CBeebies, childrens television programmes. The BBC is a family channel, therefore parents will have an expectation that the radio channel will play music that is 'family friendly' and suitable for any younger children to listen to.
There has been a lot of controversy over the years regarding Eminem's music, especially the lyrics that often include references to drug use, alcohol, abuse in relationships, foul language, and offensive references about rape, and some misogynistic lyrics, all of which should not be glorified by the public, or re-enacted for that matter.  For example, his song "Kill You" is primarily about rape and he often uses words such as 'slut' and 'whore', the song which clearly contains very negative messages can be very harmful to some listeners.
A benefit of censorship on the radio, especially when it comes to artists such as Eminem is that children are protected from learning about things that could be very harmful to them (drugs, alcohol and rape). Censorship also prevents young, impressionable children from being exposed to materials that they may not understand the severity of. Also, the radio station can never be sure who their listeners are, and therefore they should play music that is suitable for all age groups, as this is the safest option. The station could risk achieving a bad reputation if they begin playing music that may offend their old listeners, and they could potentially lose loyal listeners, therefore lost their fan base. In conclusion, producing and selling music is an artists job, therefore their main goal will be to make money/a profit, and to also secure a loyal fan base and gain a following. Even if BBC radio 1 does use censorship on Eminem's songs, his songs will still be receiving the same amount of promotion as they song will be appropriate to play on the radio and listened to, which could ultimately boost sales while preventing children from harmful materials.
Also, it could be argued that censorship makes people curious. It may cause them to go home and listen to the song again to see why the censorship was necessary. This could benefit an artist like Eminem as it will result in their song receiving more views and more publicity.

Overall, censorship affects a lot of artists and the music that they create, there are many that approve of censorship and think it saves kids from harmful content and protects them, whilst there are those that are against it and believe that people in general should mature and realise what society is today and realise that kids will learn these things one way or another later in life or now. My personal opinion is that censorship just destroys the artists point and blocks what they really want to get across and can be very frustrating for them. I also feel that censorship is unnecessary as it just delays the inevitable of kids knowing about drugs and that there are people in the world that would commit violent actions, and these songs may contain swearwords that they are likely to hear on a playground anyway, maybe even from their parents arguing. My opinion on censorship shall carry over to my music video when I produce it as I do not agree with censorship and it may ruin an idea that I might have for my music video.