Censorship - Miss Miller

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communications or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities etc. The music industry's is protected by censorship at certain intervals in time known as the watershed. Some broadcasters make choices in what they broadcast with some showing explicit material while others choose to broadcast the moderate/normal.

In the context of music videos artists work is restricted by Music Channels and Radio to a set of rules they decide or have to conform to in order to meet regulations by Ofcom or Office of Communication and was created after the Office of Communication Act 2002 which regulates the United Kingdom.

Throughout this post I will be discussing the ideas of the music community on the subject of Censorship. It will come from a range of different perspectives from the Artists themselves to their Record Labels and Fans on what their overall collective thoughts are. Artists material that has been censored includes such as Eminem and Robin Thicke one example being the Blurred Lines song which includes explicit language and nudity of the female body multiple times throughout. The music video has two versions a clean and an uncensored version to adapt itself to different audiences.

1) Artists, The creators of the music they produce for the general public. Artists choose a general style to follow regarding to the genre of what their music follows. The main genres that are affected by Censorship are Rap, R&B, and some artists within Pop. These genre fall into this category due to either: Explicit References (i.e Sex), Swearing, or the Promotion of Ideas that do not conform to main society. Some artists such as Eminem have strong thoughts on censorship. He feels that the Artists/Himself should be able to express themselves freely with no restraints on what they produce, and that it is the parents choice to either censor what their children listen to or what they can listen to with a set of rules. He sees that all music is a form of entertainment that is for the benefit of the audience and is not design to brainwash or change the mind set of such individuals that may listen to it. He sees that references to killings etc. will not offspring copycat like events or changed the person at hand. He sees being a music artist as a job and that he didn't ask to be a role model for his millions of fans worldwide. But it does make certain people ask the question that without his fans he wouldn't be as successful as he is, so in a way he had to become a role model as so many people adore him.  



2) Record Label, stand on the fence in this situation they do and do not agree with censorship as they want to give their artists as much creative freedom as possible as at the end of the day it is them that creates the company's revenue. Some record labels are For Censorship as it protects the size of the target audience that listens to their products. But on the other hand some are Against as it provides a bigger audience size as two versions of the same song can be produced as the two audience have different tastes and ideas of the particular music they listen too.

3)Parents For, they have to protect what it is their children listen to, this depends on how strict the parent is and how much effort they put in to filter what their child hears. Parents For feel that there are too many music lyrics/visuals that promote sex, violence, drugs, alcohol and 18+ activity's. They also feel that artists should be able to express themselves without swearing or using innuendos with they references that audience may or may not understand. Into today society with our levels of technology children are able to assess a vast amount of internet websites/radio channels, so it is extremely hard to enforce censorship on them. Many young children have assess to these that allow uncensored music to be heard such as YouTube which can be assessed with a few searches on the internet. Parents can choose to filter via software that only allows safe websites for there age range but it can be flawed as assess can still be gained by third party websites. Censorship means that parents don't have to worry about what their child listens to as it will all be clean with no explicit material.

4)Parents Against, on the other hand other parents are more lenient on the subject of censorship. These parents feel that children will eventually become exposed to the material and they should be able to build there own morals. The same an Eminem they don't feel that music will affect the mind set of audiences that listen instead it will just make them conform opinions and questions that will be answered throughout their life and make them the person they are meant to be and will be more prepared for the real world that is not filtered by protection of their parents when they reach of a certain age. They see that being over-protective can do more harm than good for the futures of their children.


5)Fans, of the artists music will feel that it should be raw or as the artist intended it to be and are strongly against censorship. If censored the fans may lose interest in that particular artist as that may be the artists strong point and will not be the same if their work is restricted. It could make the quality of the lyric/song worse ending the artists career as their fan-base is reduced, losing their record label. Fans wouldn't be fans if they didn't like what they were producing, they also feel that songs being explicit make them more real

6)Music Channel, such as MTV feel that audiences should be able to make choices on what they view, they feel the artists work should be shown how it was intended when produced. With all this in mind channels are restricted to what they can broadcast by the Watershed to restrict the content watched by younger audiences by law. What MTV broadcast may affect their views which in turn means they many lose profit via advertising, but at the same time they have to please the whole of the audience.

7) Radio Channels, Capital and Capital Xtra, want to play a wide variety of genres to please their audiences but they have to censor due to the wide range of ages listening to the programme. When censorship is enforced it is clear to audiences at the majority of the time what the lyrics are going to be it only simply hinders the artists creativity and may affect their audiences.

The main opinion of many is that music should be censored further to prevent the underage gaining access to materials by asking websites to create sign up content for audiences to gain assess alike Youtube has at the moment and preventing all radio stations to broadcast uncensored material during the watershed. Artists and their fanbase does not agree with this as they feel the music should be heard as intended without no removal of words/phases.

To conclude my overall opinion on the issue of Censorship is that the current way music is filtered today is at an adequate level and no further actions need to be taken to raise what can be put into artists work. The watershed provides a timescale for when different audiences watch/listen to censored or uncensored music, and parent can attempt to guard their children but in my opinion it isn't hard for a child to gain assess to these materials and it cannot really be prevented, if they seek to view explicit music it is their choice and parents shouldn't being going out of there way to stop them as I don't see the music being harmful in anyway at all.

Research into Music Channels - Miss Georgiou

MTV, Target Audience is around 12-30 years old. The Channel plays Pop Music and any other music genre that is mainstream and is in the charts and appeals to the target audience. Katy Perry, Rihanna and Jason Derulo. MTV is owned by Viacom Media Networks. which also own Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central. MTV is used as a form of branding through the use of mechanise sold to the consumer such as T-Shirts which hold the Logo, DVD's of things that feature on the channel, Mugs etc. The Logo appeals to the target audience as it is simple but it also has a graffiti style section of the logo which is the TV section of the logo which is smaller compared to the M which stands for music, which stands out over the rest of the logo, it represents the young generation due to its graffiti like appearance.

Viva, is a channel that is owned by the owners of MTV and is available on free-view. Its target audience is around the same as MTV's which is 12-30 as the channel also broadcasts programmes that are strictly over 18 such as Jackass. The Channel again plays Pop and any other genre in the charts at time of broadcast. 3 popular artists that appear on this channel are Ed Sheeren, Example and Calvin Harris.  The owners of Viva also own Channel 5, 5* and 5USA. The channel is used as a form of branding via social network sites as it advertises itself as it shows what they are broadcasting as they post screenshots and the time the program starts to obtain wider audience in views figures. Viva is also available on Freeview which makes it available to any person with a TV whereas MTV etc. require a viewer to have a subscription to a paid service. The Logo appeals to the audience as it as a modern and clean feel that audiences will like. It also cuts of the letter I with the V and text is also slanted so it stands out to the audience.

4Music has a target audience of around 12 -30 as it plays in chart music from the Top 40, 20 and 10, artists that feature to keep the target audience entertained are Clean Bandit, Ariana Grande, and Iggy Azalea. The Channel is owned by Box Television which owns all of the Channel 4 Brand, and other sister channels such as Kerrang! 4music have there own twitter page +4Music which promotes their top 40 countdown and other programs such as Keeping up with Kardashians for views to see if they don't know that it is on already, this is similar to the advertising of viva.  The logo appeals to the audience as it is very stylish. The logo features a smooth outline of the number 4 in pink with music written across the middle section of the number it looks very modern and stylish.

Kerrang! has a target audience of around 16-35 year olds the reason for this is the fact that the music channel strictly broadcasts Rock Music. Artists include Paramore, Foo Fighters and Linkin Park Kerrang!TV is owned by Box Television who also own all of the Channel 4 branch-out Channels including 4Music and other Radio channels such as Heat, Kiss, Magic, Smash Hits and The Box. Kerrang! promotes itself by its own Magazine which includes their featured artists.  The logo appeals to the target audience as it is simple as it is just black font written in bold with a broken glass effect. This clearly represents the rock genre as the logo stands out and is different from the mainstream pop orientated channels. 

Channel AKA is a music channel then broadcasts upcoming artists urban/grime/hip-hop music. Has a target audience of mid-teens to mid-twenties. AKA helped artists such as Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, Wretch 32 and N-Dubz breakthrough into the music industry. Channel AKA is owned by All Around the World Productions and has many sister channels such as Greatest Hits TV, Clubland TV and Planet Pop. The logo appeals to the target audience as is features an outline of an artist which is conventional to the genres that the channel selectively plays to its audiences but also it alike Kerrang! it has simple black bold text which may further appeal to audiences as it is simple and it not alike the colourful bold logos of pop channels. 

I think MTV has been broken down into different channels (base, hits, dance, rocks, classic, etc.) due to the fact that they want to appeal to a large range of audiences. MTV have a considerable amount of market power and have the ability to run multiple genre channels. By doing this it means that they don't have to just play mainstream music on one channel only appeal to one target audience. By providing a range it gives the viewer choice into what they listen too. In addition this may also divert audiences from other channels that broadcast these additional genres and draw them into to becoming soul users of the MTV brand. 

Music channels must appeal to a target audience otherwise the music will be a random collection of genres being played which will be enjoyed by some and not others, therefore making them disengaged from the channel and looking for there source of music elsewhere. Therefore they must be consistent to maintain the audience of there choice. This is why there are a variety of music channels, as they all conform to different genres so that audiences can choose the type they want to listen to and turn on the channel that plays this type of music. For Pop someone has a choices of MTV, 4Music and Rock someone has a choice of Kerrang  or Scuzz. 

From analysing music channels I have learn how they have to appeal to different target audiences in order to maintain a stable amount of views, and this is why there are a wide variety of channels for the multiple amount of music genres there are. This will help me with my own production as I now have a detailed outline of how music channels operate and what I need to consider when producing a music video as ultimately it should be produce to be used on a music channel if popularity is high. 

What is a Music Video? - Miss Miller

Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness

Summertime Sadness is by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, it was released on the 22nd of June 2012. The Genre of the song is Trip-Hop. The song was remixed in a year later in 2013 by Cedric Gervais, French born DJ. This is the version I will be analysing.

What is the purpose of a music video?

-A market tool to promote an artist/song, A music video is a success marketing tool that is used in order to promote an artist or a song. They are considered as an add on to music and they usually are produced while the song is in produced and released after to maintain the song in the chart for longer. In addition no music television show would not include the song in their i.e. Top 40 countdown as it would simply become a radio channel which defeats the purpose of its creation. Not all music videos promote the artist as they sometimes do not include the artist but this is no the case for Summertime Sadness as Lana Del Ray features throughout the whole of the footage, but almost every music video is used to promote the song.

-To attract a particular target audience, audiences that don't particularly likely the artists music may be encourage by the use of a music video. If the Video has a attractive narrative they may watch the video without realising that they have lost their opinion of the song and rather change their opinion. Furthermore it may also attract wider audience through the fact that some audiences only listen to music based on the music video otherwise they would be consider to be entertained or appreciate the artist work, i.e. audiences that listen to music via YouTube or Music Television. Some audiences may only listen to new music that hasn't been promoted via YouTube by coming across it in Playlists or by recommended searches. To attract a particular target audience the artist will have to meet the demands of the audience, for example female artist may choose to attract a younger male audience my promoting the female body by wearing less clothing and being more exposed this can be seen partially seen in Summertime Sadness as the artist sexualises her body for the audience in order to promote herself and the song and attract that particular audience.

-A short narrative to represent the artist, in also every music video there is always a narrative that is close to the artist and represents their lifestyle and what they enjoy doing in their some closed life, unless leaked by the media. Lana Del Ray in Summertime Sadness plays a lesbian character who is deeply depressed who then commits suicide by jumping off of a waterfall. The story refers too both of the characters and how their love has become distant over/towards the end of the summer hence summertime sadness. This does not directly have any links with the artists as she is straight and is in a relationship with Steve Merten's a who is an artist also and produced her debut album. The reason behind the link between her and the video may originate from the fact she used to be in a cult ruled by a guru in which she surrounded herself with young girls, this may indirectly be the cause for her song as she has a strong relationship with the same sex. On the other hand the video may refer to the artists alcoholism which she inherit at the young age of 15 which may have strong links to suicide.

What is the style of the music video/What are the codes and conventions?

Summertime Sadness (Remix) has a slightly unconventional style as it doesn't tell the narrative in chronological order, it seems to jump back and fourth throughout the "lesbian" couple relationship at different stages. Its seems to have 3 main stages the Pre-break up, break up and committing suicide stage. It shows all of the stages from both of the characters perspectives. It can be said that this is both conventional and subversive of the pop genre as most female released songs revolve around the idea of a relationship between different sex couples and the problems or benefits of them relationships. It is true that this video takes a very similar stance but on a different level as we rather see a same sex couple in trouble with what appears to have suicidal tendencies which is rather too extreme for a mainstream narrative and audience.



In addition the video seems to always seem to use various filters on the footage which again is not conventional, this is used for two apparent reason. One it is used  in order to make the footage look old fashioned as it can be consider to be set in around 1950's America or to make it seem retro, which can be seen by the classic looking car her girlfriend is driving. It can be said this is conventional as we see a strobe light affect within the transition between the effects. This has connotations that can be associated with a club setting which is a pop genre convention within music videos.

One final convention is the use of fast pace editing, this means that the music video will consist of many different camera angles and shots. This is conventional to the genre due to the fact that the editing needs to be in sync and make sense in relation to the music. If the two had no relation it would mean the music video would be missing consistency and would not make complete sense to the audience therefore making them feel disengaged and will consequently stop watching the due to it unentertaining quality.


What audience does this music video appeal to and why?

The music video appeals to the audience for a mixture of many reasons. The song has an appealing storyline, despite it being unconventional as most music videos follow a straight relationship, but this may appeal to more specific audience. Contradicting this it may also appeal to both males and females. Females may enjoy this video due to the fact that they see the women as more independent not relying on a male counterpart, also enjoying the idea of a relationship with or with a female the video still involves the common parts of of a conventional relationship i.e break up etc. In complete difference it may appeal to a male audience due to the fact the video is quite sexual, displaying specific part of the female body which would rather attract a male audience and maybe a small amount of females who may want to feel or be like the artist Lana Del Rey.

History of the Music Video - Miss Georgiou

Create a list of the ways in which people can consume music videos. Has this changed over the years?

Youtube, iTunes (Portable), TV Top 40/20, Viva ,4Music, MTV, Vevo, 

The way in which Music Videos have been viewed has dramatically changed over the last couple of years. New technology has made it possible for audiences to access music videos quicker and in High Definition for maximum quality. These days access to such videos can be done with a few clicks of a button or screen. But this easy access hasn't always been available for audiences. The only other methods of obtaining footage of viewers favourite artists has been through TV Channels that specifically broadcast music videos usually in the form of a playlist or a Top 40/20 countdown, which means direct access to a single music video was hard and audience had to wait until it has been played possibly missing it if they move away from the TV.  

MTV or Music Television, was one of the first company's to broadcast music videos on the TV, based in America. It was launched on the 1st of August 1981. MTV's main target audience were young adults but in the recent years it has opened its range to teenagers and adolescents. The scale of MTV's audience in 2013 can be seen as 97,654,000 or 85.51% of households viewed the service. 

When MTV launched at 12.01am it started with footage of the first Space Shuttle launch of Apollo 11, followed by the MTV theme song, with the moons flag that had the MTV logo that changed colour. After this the first video ever broadcast of the channel was The Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star".

MTV used young employs to host the channels programming and introduce the next segment to be played, these people were known as VJ or Video Jockeys in which many of them became celebrity's, also in addition MTV was able to secure Celebrity VJ's who would play their favourite music videos for an hour with some famous celebrity's being Phil Collins, Tina Turner and Eddie Murphy.

MTV then expanded its genre list by playing Rock and Classic rock from earlier years before the channels launch. 

One year after its launch MTV started to introduce high profile black artists onto its channel such as Prince and  Michael Jackson after 1983. 

From 1984 MTV took a new approach to broadcasting and aired the first ever MTV Music Video Music Awards, it featured a live performance of Madonna's "Like a Virgin'. Awards in the shape of the MTV moonman were handed out to winners of certain categories. MTV in 1885 showed the Live Aid concerts held in both London and Philadelphia in aid to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia with 16 hours of coverage. From 1986 MTV furthered the ranged of genres broadcasted to audiences to alternative rock, Hip Hop. From 1997 introduced electronic acts including Daft Punk and Fatboy Slim. To the present day MTV has brought a range of different genres to wider audiences which wasn't considered mainstream and widened there target audience also. The success of MTV can been seen by the amount of other Music Video broadcasters that have entered the market in attempt to acheive the same success as MTV these include .............

The next major leap for the Music Video Industry occurred when they became available to other audiences internationally on the internet under YouTube from February 14th 2005. Youtube at first was  video sharing website in which user could upload, share and view videos. Various Music Videos were available from the start of YouTube's launch. but it wasn't until Vevo lauched on December 2009. Vevo is a service on that can be accessed via YouTube which offers music from Universal Music Group and Song Music Entertainment which are considered to be 2 of the 3 biggest record labels in the world. The access to new and specific music meant that audiences for the first time were able to make a decision on which music they choose to listen to and didn't have to watch countless hours watch music tv programmes to view their favourite music/artists. In addition it meant that the music industry in particular artist became more competitive in their music videos as the more they had been viewed by audience the more profit made through advertising profits and furthermore sales via promotion of the music video. 

The budget for music videos depends on may contributing factors the artist involved, extras, props, technology used, director, length, setting and so much more in essence a music video can be produced on a budget of a few hundred pounds or millions as there are a few basic items needed to create one, i.e. Cameras and Editing Software, to put the footage together in time and sequence. The most expensive music video ever produced was in 1995 and was by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson the production of Scream cost $7,000,000. The production was based on a spaceship and had amazing graphic visuals which were very advanced considering the time period. Scream has had 33.5 million views on YouTube and was broadcast to millions on prime time television on its release in 1995 around 64 million viewer.

 The Second most expensive was Madonna's Die Another Day released in 2002 costing $6,100,000 to produce, it was produce due to the released of the new James Bond film, which in turn helped to promote the film and features the artist performing stunts that were done by Bond throughout the film. Die Another Day has recieved 870,000 view on YouTube. But on its release in the first week of release the song had been viewed by 35 million people. The two music videos had complete different target audiences despite them being of the pop genre. Scream had a much wider audience which can be seen by the amount of hits it received compare to Die Another Day, whereas Madonna's audience was rather limited as it mainly attracted Bond fans as it was the theme tune for the film, but it still managed to reach a wider audience which cannot be compare to that of Scream. 

The technology used in Music Videos has dramatically changed over the recent years, the rise of the computer industry has to be considered as the main reason. The increase in the use of Green Screens, more Advanced Software and HD Video Cameras has made Music Videos more graphically pleasuring to audiences. Green Screen enable things to be edited in that aren't actually there. While Editing Software has made it easier for editors to string together hours of footage into a few minutes in a small period of time while also being able to add filters to footage to enhance the final production, being extremely precise and in sync with the beat of the music by the artist. 

Over the last few decades the tastes and preferences audiences has changed dramatically. In the first half of the 21st Century the main genres listened to were Pop, Soundtracks, Latin, Jazz, World, Blues and other similar genres. A mass change in audiences genre preferences changed in 1960 in which Pop , Rock, Folk and Metal, R&B/Soul became more popular and Jazz the most popular genre declined dramatically. This trend in music continued up to the mid-1970's when the genre Alternative/Indie broke onto the music scene. And then at the start of the 1980s was the birth of the Hip-Hop/Rap and then finally at the start of the 1990's Dance/Electronic was starting to become more popular among audiences.