Within groups we chose a current, popular artist, Rihanna and why her videos/lyrics are censored and what different groups of people think of this. We then discussed our points in a class debate.
Rihanna is an extremely well known artist within the dance pop and R&B genres and is also known to possess an extremely passionate (and negative) opinion on the topic of censorship. However, her videos do contain elements that are extremely controversial and should not be seen by younger fans. For example, the music video for the popular song 'We Found Love' contains drug use, alcohol, reckless acts (such as drunk driving), revealing clothing, stealing, gambling, sexual scenes, self halm and suicide.
From research, it has been found that this video had been banned in countries such as France as it was deemed too inappropriate and offensive which is touched upon within the evidence below (from aceshowbiz.com).
This video also caused controversy within the feminist campaign as anti-rape organisations protested against this video as they believed that it glorified abusive relationships and that women are controlled by men. Of course, the director of 'We Found Love' and Rihanna herself, denied these allegations.
It is made evident that Rihanna is known for her songs and videos being explicit. In many news paper articles however, she is shown expressing her anger towards the idea of censorship. For example, her song 'Pour it Up' was completely banned within a number of minutes. She sent out a number of angry tweets, such as this one added to the 'Pour it Up' article in Glamour Magazine:
In a few online interviews, Rihanna expresses that she uses music to express herself and her fans enjoy it. As an artist, it would be deemed aggravating if all your hard work was ruined and your music didn't sound the way it was intended. And Rihanna uses her music to express herself and she believes that it's up to members of the public if they want to listen to her songs/watch videos or not. Overall like many other artists, Rihanna believe that censorship ruins songs and want their fans to listen to their songs as they were intended to sound. Rihanna believes that fans between the ages of 16 and 28 would understand and appreciated her songs and music videos and that she isn't aiming to reach both younger and older groups as they are not classed as her target audience.
The record label:
Overall, it is evident that record labels aim to make their artist's popular, including their work (songs and music videos). Therefore, I believe that many record labels would be more content that songs and lyrics are censored or played at a certain time of the day (for example, not on day time tv/radio however played after the watershed) as a larger target audience is created. Due to songs being censored, they can be enjoyed by the young and old, therefore created a wider audience. As well as this, the song/music video would be able to be played more in the daytime not only after the watershed, therefore becoming more popular and heightening the chance of the song expanding on a global scale thus, promoting the artist and record label. Even though record labels may agree with artists and believe that products should not be censored, many record labels believe that censored versions of songs allow their artists to reach a vast audience and daytime tv/radio.
Parents FOR:
Parents for censorship are wary about products produced by the media (such as inappropriate songs on TV and radio) and are concerned about what their children are subjected to. Parents with this view would believe that the artist (Rihanna in this case) is able to express themselves in other ways not through reckless acts such as lyrics/music videos containing drug use, violence and other inappropriate topics and teaching their children to pick up bad habits. Parents believe that these habits should not be discussed as they are glamorised and promoted to their children.
Overall, their children are exhibited to uncensored songs in everyday life and it can be hard for them to access what their child is listening or watching as it is important to add that these types of songs with inappropriate themes (such as R&B and rap) are songs within the charts therefore are popular and could be deemed easier to hear and are overall more available. To conclude, these parents may believe that artists are role models to their children and should be promoting positive topics rather than negative habits however, it can be argued that parents should be their role models, not the artist.
Parents AGAINST:
In other cases, this group off parents would believe that their children are exposed to the videos and songs everyday such as TV and radio and internet therefore, there is no way to control or stop it and children will watch uncensored songs and videos, regardless. These parents can also believe that videos with negative themes can teach their children important life lessons, based upon what is positive and negative and possibly highlights that they shouldn't act like the artists in some cases. Linking to this, more tolerant parents would believes that they have taught their children enough on the subject of negative habits (drugs, alcohol, smoking, crimes for example) therefore, would believe their children are able to distinguish from right and wrong, and trust them to make the correct decisions in life, despite what they listen to. From being less overbearing, some parents would gain more respect from their child and believe that from watching these videos, their children will build their own morals.
Fans:
Alike the artists, many fans believe that censorship ruins the artist's work and would prefer to listen to song as intended and a huge fan bases (such as fans of Rihanna) usually adore the artist so much that they wouldn't be concerned about explicit themes in a song or music video however if fans really didn't appreciate the artist's songs to begin with, they wouldn't listen. They would overall prefer to be aware of what the artist wanted to say. any fans of Rihanna for example, range in ages. Younger fans of any artist can be restricted by the parents and are either too young for the artist's concert or need to he accompanied by a parent. However, other fans believe that censorship can ruin the overall song, therefore are against this idea.
It can be seen that music channels express mixed views on the subject of censorship. This is because on one side they can be deemed to be against censorship as they believe that songs should sound and be produced to the audience how they were intended however, it can be seen that if these music channels play these songs/videos can really influence them for example MTV, as they can change people's opinions on the channel as it can seem like they condone the behaviour that artists such as Rihanna displays. On the other hand, censorship allows songs to be played at any time of the day not only after the 9pm watershed, therefore the channel gains popularity
British Radio Stations- BBC Radio 1/Capital Xtra-
Radio stations also have a mixed opinion on the subject of censorship. This is because Radio 1 for example, want to play songs for all genres. And there is the belief that censorship can protect younger listeners from explicit content. Rihanna for example, had faced many negative comments and videos that have been taken down prior to 'We Found Love' as in January 2011, the music video to 'S&M' faced removal due to sexual scenes and behaviour. Evidence I found for this, is a snippet from a newspaper article as a DJ introduced Rihanna's 'S&M' as 'Come on'. During daytime hours, radio stations usually play censored versions of songs due to younger listeners. Other radio stations believe that some edited out words can be guessed anyway and is a negative aspect for the artist as it limits creativity.
To conclude, it is seen that the main opinion is that censorship is a positive aspect as it protects children from negative content and can be played more universally. My opinion on this subject is that it is pointless in some cases, as children are going to listen to whatever they want if they get the chance on the other hand, I do think it is a positive aspect as the artist can sell more records and more fans would be satisfied. Overall, I believe that I would follow the censorship rules as in some ways, censorship is mostly used in R&B and rap music which isn't my preferred genre also, I would gain a larger target audience from all ages and the song would be able to be played globally at any time of the day.
You have provided a good analysis of surrounding the issue of censorship, explaining the various viewpoints and opinions. However, you need to go into more detail to show a better understanding.
ReplyDeleteYou need to:
1) Elaborate on all your points, going into further detail about why these certain roles might be for or against it.
2) Include images/videos that link to examples you have referred to