When Was It Created --_-- Restrictions Of The Sticker --_-- How Are Musiacians Affected --_-- Controversy Surrounding The Sticker
What is Parental Guidance? According to recording industry association of america (www.riaa.com) that it is a notice to parents that recording identified with the logo contains strong language or depictions of violence, sex or substance abuse. “Parental discretion is advised”. The label is a non-removable logo that record companies voluntarily place on products to better inform consumers and retailers while also protecting the rights of artists. The Webster's dictionary states that: parental advisory is a censorship sticker, very much like the seal of approval that comic books were made to have in the 70's. It warns parents of possible material that may be considered obscene without any specific details about what is objectionable. In my opinion parental advisory would go far beyond that, Parental advisory to me is who be not only parents who work hard for a sticker or banner to recognize what is and is not good for kids, but also it is parents who work hard to advise thier kids on what they can and cannot watch and to prevent their kids from seeing, hearing, learning, reading about and talking about things that are not fit for them to get into.
Parental Advisory Stickers protect teens, children, and those who do not want to go through the hassle of listening to, reading or viewing obscene music, movies, books, etc.
Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center , representatives from the Recording Industry Association (RTAA), along with the National PTA and Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) first held a hearing on parental advisory labels in 1985. Subsequent to those hearings, developed a program in which future music releases by participating companies would feature an advisory label.
Restrictions on the sticker
obtained from www.riaa.com(Recording Industry Association of America)
However, although some stores have a policy of refusing to sell albums that carry a parental advisory sticker to children, unreliable evidence suggests that this policy is often ignored, predominantly since store employees are often themselves under the age of 18. Other stores do not restrict the sale of explicit music to minors.
How are musicians affected?
Musicians are affected because certain stores do not carry CD's with parental advisory sticker on them like Wal-mart, Woolworth's and K-mart. This restrains the music of the artist, it restricts the access of youth who live in area's where there aren't record stores and malls from purchasing CD's. These actions can sometimes make youth turn to downloading music from the internet. This action is called Piracy and is punishable by law. I think that the stickers threaten artistic freedom, even though artists use obscene language it is called expressing themselves and i think that the sticker is a strike against freedom of expression. many people often say that it is not and often bring up the 1 st amendment.
Some people think that there are racial components to labeling as well, because most CDs slapped with stickers are by African-American rap( poetic discussions freely and at length) and hip-hop artists( A popular urban youth culture, closely associated with rap music and with the style and fashions of African-American inner-city residents) It has also been extensively reported that the stickers don't actually work. As noted during the 1998 congressional hearings on the effectiveness of the stickers, “the recording industry's current system has become a marketing device: "A child looking for hardcore rap records is not going to buy one that does not have (an advisory label) on it."
One of the biggest concerns about parental advisory stickers is that they feed into the concept that violent music contribute to violent behavior. Some say that human behavior is far too complicated to draw a steadfast conclusion. Researchers who claim to have found direct causes have used silly methods for testing anger and aggression (like showing a group of people a violent movie and then measuring how quickly they recognize aggressive words on a computer screen).
What I Think About The Situation
Overall I think that Parental Advisory stickers can be good and bad for youth and musicians. Good because many parents have a clue now about what's good for youth to listen to. Also good because many parents wont have to be concerned about what there children are listening to and they wont have to go through the haggle of trying to find songs on CD's that are suitable for themselves and youth to listen to. Bad because many feel that musicians and artists cant express themselves the way the want without having to worry about being banned. You also can't find certain album you want at some stores like K-mart and also bad because many teens and youth try to rebel and listen to music that there parents wouldn't allow them to listen to. The stickers lets them know which music isn't suitable for them
