Censorship - Miss Miller

Censorship affects artists that produce explicit content that some audiences may find offensive, it has been used different types of media publication like films and television programs but one form of media is affected even more so, music videos are censored due to their rude lyrics, these types of songs will only be shown after watershed (9:00PM) on music channels and some songs on youtube are censored with some swear words not being heard. Some songs are so offensive for audiences that censorship was made by the channels to 'protect' artists target audiences as people would complain about the music that some artists create, therefore censorship was made so that the artists music can still be heard but swear words or anything with horrible implications was censored or blocked from the song being shown on the music channel before watershed. Ofcom are also a massive part of censorship, Ofcom is the regulator and competition of authority for UK communications industries. It regulates tv and radio, fixed the telecoms, mobiles, postal services and the airwaves which wireless devices use. People who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material. That is what ofcom do to every form of media out there to make sure it isn't offensive in anyway, they have a board that will decide whether or not something is in violation of censorship regulations and hasn't been dealt with professionally. Ofcom are the deciders of whether or not a song needs to be censored, 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 before watershed, they could fine them as they did recently to EE for not handling customer complaints in the correct manor. Some artists songs have been censored due to ofcom and its regulations, Eminem's 'Stan' has had a few explicit words removed that are noticeable when there is a sudden silence in the middle of the song that comes out of nowhere, also Rihanna's song 'we found love' has also been censored as it's implied throughout the video that they're having sex, stealing, doing drugs, gambling and making their own tattoos, nearly all of which has been censored for it to be shown on music channels.

In class we had a debate over the topic of censorship with Eminem's music as he has made some rather controversial songs in the past, one example is thought to be about how he wanted to kill his wife after she cheated on him in real life. Someone had to play the role of a specific person and talk of how it effected them in anyway. First it was Eminem and how he felt about censorship on his music. Eminem is against censorship of his songs for many reasons, he feels that whatever he says, he wants to say and feels it needs to be said, he says what he wants to do, this means he is passionate about the creativity behind his songs and that they shouldn't be hindered by censors just for the sake of one or two people who may not like the music he creates. Eminem thinks his music is to motivate others, not to kill or take drugs but to get through those hard parts of your life, Eminem is so successful through his rapping that he wants to motivate others to keep pushing for their dreams just like he did, Eminem went through hardships and wants dedicated fans to do the same. Eminem raps about his personal life and struggles through many of his songs (Mockingbird) and these are almost like open letters to his fans about how he is doing, censoring this is taking away from his creative freedom and just shows he can't say everything he wants to to his audience, the audience therefore build up a relationship with Eminem further as he is open to all of his fans about his life. A quote from Eminem that can be applied to his song 'kim' is "I say 'shocking' things, I don't do 'shocking' things" meaning that he supports creative freedom for his songs and that he doesn't wan to do the things he says, he just wants to leave messages for his fans or he is just joking about what he says. Eminem thinks that no matter who you are or what you do, people will always be offended so there is no point catering towards those people as they don't understand that bottling what you think about the world isn't good. Lastly, Eminem feels if you don't like his music then don't listen to it and parents should have more control over their children if they don't want them to watch such things.

Eminem felt that his music was in such a high risk of being censored (and still is) so he made his own record label so he was safe, the record Label was called 'Shady Records' as to not feel pressured by any labels. Shady records believe that audiences like the controversy otherwise Eminem wouldn't be as popular as he is in todays standards and people respect the fact that he's willing to what others won't dare to say. Music is a way for many artists, like Eminem, to express themselves, censorship is blocking this freedom of expression and is taking away from the art form in its entirety, why bother being creative when they will just take away your own creativity. Shady records said that some of their artists have become very popular so why would they be popular if they're bad or purposely promote bad impressions for their audience?

Parents feel that their children are impressionable by those they look up to, a lot of kids who really enjoy rap look up to Eminem as he was able to become famous. Is this such a good thing, parents are very protective over their children and think it is disgusting that a rapper with such a massive fan base would talk about killing his wife calling her a 'bitch' and a 'slut', this isn't what parents would like their children to be hearing. Parents feel it isn't his music videos but instead his lyrics of his songs because some of his songs are extremely inappropriate for his audiences. Parents feel that kids shouldn't have to be shielded from such things and don't want to but some things are just too much and some people just go too far, to resolve this, dedicated fans of an appropriate age should be able to download his music so it isn't in the reach of kids and so that it doesn't do harm to them.

Whilst all parents are protective of their own children, some believe that what Eminem are doing is the right thing, he's informing kids on drugs in the hopes that they don't take them, when Eminem talks about his drug taking, he never does so to promote drugs, quite the opposite, people know he had a bad upbringing and this could've been because of drugs, he isn't implying that everyone should do drugs. Censoring music won't stop kids from ever hearing an explicit version that may be on the internet somewhere so what is the point of censoring it. Parents that are against censorship also feel that they shouldn't be naive and should be able to understand the world from a different perspective. Parents should keep tabs on their children if other parents are so worried about what they get up to, they should ask their children about it and not just shut them out for good. Finally, though some kids are impressionable by what they see, music will not make you a violent person, if it did, then music would be gone for good, however violent people can listen to these songs and that's all it is, violent people, songs don't create violence.

Eminem has a massive fan base that would follow him even if he were wrong, they would argue for his creative freedom and his opinions that he is trying to convey. Eminem raps about his personal life to his fans and they are almost like open letters, this enables his target audience to build a relationship with him further as he is open to his fans. Eminem talks about his worries and the effects his rap career has on his personal life, his fans care for him a great deal and respect him even further as he was able to tell them these worries. Fans may feel very negative towards censorship as it takes away their idols creative freedom, they want him to express himself but he cannot do that if censorship takes away that freedom. Fans also believe that if Eminem could do it, then anyone with a desire of rap could do it, he is an inspiration to his target audience and they cherish him for it.

Music channels also have a massive role to play in the context of censorship as they are the one that could get fined, MTV feel very strongly about censorship and need certain songs to be censored before watershed, some stuff that needed to be censored are quite strong reasons, one being that he threatened a member of congress and wants to destroy the white house which are both illegal acts in just saying you want to do it, lyrics that he wrote that relate to the columbine massacre doesn't show his sympathetic but instead trying to make money off of others' deaths, he is quite homophobic in reality so his lyrics are rather dated in today's society and some of his general views are just rather edgy to say the least. In contrast to this there is a music channel that believe artists should be free instead and this is AKA who promote up and coming artists, they believe that rappers should express themselves freely so they promote this kind of attitude, due to this they were fined £18,000 by ofcom, they focus more on urban songs like Eminem's music, censorship blocks a lot of ideas fans could have of a music video and the lyrics' meanings and if they did this, then it could be violating their philosophy on music and this controversy only gets more fans and audiences to pay attention.

BBC are a radio company that also feel strongly for censorship as even Eminem's lyrics can be quite offensive to some people. The BBC have to make their station appropriate for all audiences at all times, this could be anyone of any age and his 'kill you' is about rape and uses words like 'slut' which is promoting the wrong ideas to kids that could be listening. BBC feel that there is no guarantee to who is listening to the radio so care is always taken into account when broadcasting. BBC also said that whether an artists song is censored or not it is advertising them so either way an artist is making money so there isn't much of a difference.

Censorship in general affects a lot of artists and the work that they produce, it is a 50/50 split right down the middle, there are those that approve of censorship and think it saves kids from being corrupted, and there are those that are against it and believe that people should grow up and realize that kids will learn these things later in life or now. My personal opinion is that censorship just destroys the artists point, if someone had spent months painting his work of art and then someone claimed that one bit or another of the painting is offensive, it would make the artist feel bad as it's his work someone is destroying the point of it, 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. I would like to say that this opinion of mine will carry over to my music video as i do not agree with censorship in the slightest and it may destroy an idea that i might have about my music video.