WS - Censorship on Music Videos

Censorship is a big issue in the Music Video industry. At times it can be very controversial with videos been edited for TV, moved to only late night screenings or banned altogether from appearing on TV on channels such as MTV (the most popular Music Television network in the US.


MTV has been accused by some as been too politically correct when it comes to what they will and won't screen. Shows such as Beavis and Butt-head have been moved to later time slots and edited because a child burnt down his house after watching the show. This is just one example of the sort of censorship that MTV does.


There is quite a long list of what MTV will not allow to be referenced in the videos shown on their channel. In the list are references to drugs, sex, violence, racism, homophobia and advertising. They completely edit out swear words. From this list there are a number of censored songs. There is also a relatively long list of songs that have been completely banned.


The list of censored songs by MTV includes some very famous artists. Michael Jackson's single, "They Don't Care About Us" had words replaced by other words (the words "Jew me" and "kike me" were replaced by the words "do me" and "Strike me"). As well as this song by Michael Jackson, songs by Lady GaGa(Poker Face), Maroon 5 (This Love) and Eminem (Guilty Conscience) have all been censored before been shown on MTV.


As well as Censoring songs, many videos have been moved to late night by MTV. Songs such as "Toxic" by Britney Spears, "I Miss You" By Blink-182 and "Hotel" By Cassidy have all been moved to late night showings only on MTV due to the content in the songs or the videos.


In more extreme cases, songs have been banned by MTV altogether. Hugely famous artists including Madonna, Foo Fighters and Queen have had videos completely banned by Americas top Music TV channel. The list of MTV videos in America is around the 40 mark. If you add the three sorts of censorship together you can see how heavily MTV does censor it's music videos and shows you that, when making Music Videos you must adhere to tight guidelines, or run the risk of the video not been accepted by one of if not the biggest companies in world music.