Cencorship

Cencorship on Eminem

In this post i will talk about the censorship of music, and here i will talk about Eminem and his Music. Censorship can be lyrical, either changing or excluding certain lyrics from broadcast, this is also known as a radio edit. Also banning album artwork, and even banning artists from being on air on radio stations, it could be because of moral reasons, racial/religious or offensive, inappropriate content. The company who censors music on radio stations and television are called OFCOM, (The office of communications). However the content of music on the internet cannot be censored as the internet cannot be fully controlled, unless a law is made, like the banning of 'two girls one cup' video. I will give different perspectives of people, music channels, radios and parents on Eminems censored music, with my opinion on each perspective at the end of the paragraphs.

Eminem himself

Eminems views on censorship and the banning of music is different from the people who are against him. Eminem says that music is 'just entertainment', and that lyrics cannot influence a child or someone to commit a crime of reenact a scene from a video or from lyrics, unless they were 'crazy' or mentally disabled in the first place. He then goes on to say the parents of the child that has committed a crime and blamed Eminem for influencing him should of supervised their child better. He also says that children these days much more smart in making decisions, and he says that they will make their own.

Eminems Fan (for)

Eminems fan had to say that he agrees with Eminem's statement for his music and censorship. He says that his fans wouldn't reenact or blame him for any bad actions they make unless of corse they were crazy. He Then had to say that music shouldn't be censored and neither Eminem's as music is supposed to be original and different, if everything was censored then we would be consuming the same music.

Eminems Fan (against)

This fan says she likes his music and is a fan, however there is a line and sometimes he crosses it. She especially brought up the fact of Eminem ''dissing' other artists, as it is not fair as he should keep himself to himself and leave others alone, as it creates feuds between fans of different artists, however i feel this could sometimes be a good thing as it would bring certain subcultures together, like lady Gaga's fans would come together and not tolerate the insults.

Parents

The parents are obviously against Eminem. The parents go to say that the props and actions within the video and what the lyrics generate can influence their child to replicate, as Eminem is a role model for them. However i believe that this is a deeper problem which needs to be resolved or prevented by the parents, the parents must understand and control their child, control as helping them make decisions which are not the wrong ones. The parents dont want lyrics like '

MTV

The Music Television company and its channels decide not to show Eminems Videos as they do believe that Eminem can make people emulate his actions within music videos and he is such a big star and an idol. They also wouldn't as they have a massive audience which can consist of young ages, which inappropriate content shouldn't be shown to them. I agree with MTV as they are a massive company and they could possibly be taken off air from complaints if they were to play Eminems music, and its not good for their young audience.

Channel AKA

Channel AKA decide to broadcast Eminems music and they feel okay, as this channel is a niche channel, which is aimed a specific audience which is the rap audience and its not that much of a popular channel. I feel fine about AKA showing Eminems material, as they do not broadcast to a massive audience and they are very  specific, by just broadcasting rap music. However children could access the channel if they have Sky, or other satellite TV which many families do, but the parents could put a lock on the channel.

Shady Records

This is Eminems Record Label, and his managers say that they don't care what they broadcast because they are still making profit. This is okay for them but they should be more considerate as some of Eminems content is very offensive.

Kiss Radio

Kiss is an English radio station, which broadcasts from London, Severn Estuary, East Anglia, London. It is also a DAB radio station, which can be listened on Freeview, Sky and Talk Talk TV. As Kiss is broadcasted in London and can be accessed from anywhere in the UK with Internet and special radios, It has a large audience. After researching on a site, 2,352,000 people listen to the radio; an average of 5.2 hours per head was listened in the period of June 2012.

Kiss do not play most of Eminem’s music, however they have played some of his new album with Royce da’ 5’9, called Bad Meets Evil. However when Eminem’s music would be played on this radio they would chose a song that is not that offending, and they would sensor or change lyrics that would offend, for example in Fast Lane, they would cut out certain verses and they would replace swear words with sound effects.

I would not blame Kiss for censoring or not playing Eminem songs as they could be very offending to people, and of Corse for younger listeners it would not be appropriate. The 2,352,000 of people who listen to Kiss on the website I found, are over 15. 2 million over 15 year olds listen to this radio station, therefore they would defiantly be a good number of under 15 year olds listening, therefore Kiss have no choice to censor or not play his songs, as they have a reputation and a business to contain. Parents and the media would criticize and complain to the station, which could jeopardize its position. As Eminem says ‘Its music, its just entertainment’ and he goes on to say that it’s the listeners (children’s) choice to follow these lyrics or re-enact these in real life. And he says that if the children do, then the parents are to blame for not supervising them properly. Also he says that the people who commit crimes saying Eminem influenced them were mentally unstable in the first place. I believe in Eminem’s statement, however the media and parents would put the blame straight on the radio station which would of broadcast his music, as it is easy to access it if they did.

Conclusion

In conclusion i believe that Eminems Music should be concored on major broadcasters, like the radio and MTV music channels. The main concern I have is the young children, Eminems music has graphic content, ranging from murder to swearing, and young people should not be exposed to this. However i feel that his music could be broadcasted to anyone older than 16 as they are more mature and less fragile. I also agree on Eminems opinion, of music is just lyrics and entertainment, and it cannot influence someone to commit crime, as if they do, the parents should be more strict. From the research I have carried out upon censorship within music videos and lyrics we can apply this to our music video to make sure It wont be overly inappropriate or bad in the case of it having to be cencored massively or banned.