Music has quite an influence over people, maybe MORESO than films and games but yet no matter how explicit, profane, degrading, etc an audio recording is, there is no age law on the sale in the UK.

What's worse is there is NO obligation to carry a parental advisory sticker. Most of them do, but not all of them.

I tried starting an online petition to get this changed but I don't think it's worked, for some reason I don't think they will approve it but they won't give a reason.

One reason for this is some time back a nun was murdered in Italy by two youths and this was meant to have been influenced by Marylin Manson's music.

Chubby Brown's stand up DVDs are rated 18 but anyone of any age can but the CDs and hear the profanity.

All in all, shouldn't there be some sort of control over audio sales as well as visual?

Also should clean versions of CDs be more available? A lot of rap albums are made in clean versions but they can be hard to obtain and they are never included in shop sales!

No, no, no, never! Censorship is pernicious mind control and should be resisted at all costs. There is nothing quite so annoying as safe radio edits of otherwise decent recordings, where the lyriicists often sweated over, poetic lyrics are reduced to gibberish by the attentions of what seems to be an overrepressed fundamentalist with the artistic appreciation of a dog turd.
By all means use parental advisory stickers if the artist (no one else) deems it necesary but nothing more.

So little johnny wants to have a cd by some black rap artist, mum goes to supermarket, doesn't see a advisory sticker and buys it. Then hears little johnny, aged 9, a few days later saying, f this and f that. Of COURSE parental advisory stickers shoukd be on the CDs, and yes, clean versions should be as easy to buy.

Radio censorship is ridiculous. When words like 'whips and chains', 'whiskey' & 'drunk' are censored, you know it's just silly.

My name is Onika, you can call me Nicki.
CFNSORED.

But when it comes to CD's, I think parental advisory stickers should be made compulsory. You can't do what is done with films and have age restrictions though, it wouldn't work.

"A song made me do it" is a poop thing to say if you've just killed someone! Any psycho could say that.

Things that incite hatred of a particular group perhaps should be censored, but nothing ott, no need.

I think there should be Parental Guidance stickers on CDs... Lyrical content can be quite graphic and my opinion is that kids don't need encouraging when it comes to bad language. I never swore until I was 15 and even then it was mild. My parents made sure that I didn't hear bad language. Considering I grew up in pubs, that was quite a feat! Edited versions should be on the radio if language is bad. At the end of the day you are still able to purchase the explicit versions of songs so it's not like you are being forced to buy an edited version.

Are you going to patrol the bus and train stations too? Profanity is everywhere.

Back befoire the majority of posters on this forum were born there was a classic radio comedy called I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. An occasional hilarious feature on that was the dirty song book of some singing star. For example, Julie Andrew's "I could have ****** all night and still have begged for more, I could have spread my ***** And done a thousand things I've never done before". That humouir has now become a deadly serious travesty, perpetrated by record company execs who wouldn't recognise art if it jumped up and poked them in the eye with a sharp stick,- no adverse publicity and blandness being their watchwords in the drive to make money.
As for the unthinking mother - if such a person buys her child anything without first finding out what she is buying then she is clearly not fit to be a mother and is in the wrong, not the rappers, not her son. You cannot legislate for idiocy (nothing is idiotproof given the right sort of idiot) nor should that be a pretext for censorship.

good parenting is curbing the bad language as best possible. No you can't follow your kids everywhere but you can at least make an effort... My parents did a good job with me. I may be gay and childless but my sister has also made a very good job of trying to control bad language around my niece... If you have kids do you swear around them with the attitude "well they will hear it somewhere" ?
Yeah they may hear it elsewhere... Doesn't make it right though does it?

It is not a question of shielding children from reality (therein lies the road to oppression) but, with the correct upbrining, give them the right tools to deal with it.

I bought Tenacious D's latest album "Rise of the Fenix" off Amazon a few weeks ago and it had an advisory label stuck to the cover on top of the artwork. Mind you it was a giant penis made to look like a fiery bird.

I am gay too. My parents brought me up well and I didn't hear any foul language in the domicile or on the street in those days.

My parents valued the importance of education and the regular reading of the dictionary and thesaurus as well as playing a game called "Lexicon".

My grandmother was interested in how language started, so would buy me books on the origins of languages which then started me off on becoming a polyglot as she was very interested in polyglotism and we would play "Scrabble" in French and German.

I don't see the point in profanity and some towns fine you for bad language and others simply ignore it. No one says "pas devant" any more or even "mixed company" like they used to when children and women were about.

I was never oppressed, my parents didn't want me to have a potty mouth. When kids learn words they like to use them, especially if they are naughty. My parents used to tell me they were words that we shouldn't use. I had the brains/attitude not to use them because I listened to my parents. Personally I am glad they tried to control my exposure to bad language because I like to think I had very good manners as a child... And still do hopefully. I still take my shoes off when I go in someone's house. lol
They never shielded me from everything, just made sure I was not influenced into doing naughty things.

Whatever you do, children will learn all those naughty words, unless you home tutor and forbid friends it is inevitable. So why try and do the impossible? Far better to make it irrelevant to your children by correct upbringing.

Yes I learnt swear words eventually but I still had the correct upbringing... I've never smoked, done drugs (both my choice), I always take my shoes off when I enter someone's house, I am caring, I respect others, I give my seat up for the elderly, I never ask for anything at a friend's house until I am asked... I'd say I had correct upbringing... I do swear now though. lol

Oh, I'll have to track that down, it sounds great. Another I heard was "My Favourite Things" which was just
"**** and **** and **** and **** and **** and **** and **** and **** and **** and **** and **** all tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things".

The Rolf Harris dirty song book was good as well - "Two little boys had two little ****, Each had a wooden ****. Gaily they'd play each summer's day, *** both of course"

I hate when bands like Marilyn Manson and slipknot get the blame for some crazy teenager going out and killing someone I've been listening to those kind of bands for over 10 years and at no point have I ever heard any messages in their songs or been tempted to go kill someone. I think it's more pop music that needs regulation most of rihannas songs are complete filth and that recent flo rida song about blowing a whistle was pretty obviously nothing to do with blowing a whistle yet I've seen 5 year old kids wandering around singing these songs and I've seen the videos on tv in the middle of the afternoon

Sadly this is where your argument falls completely apart.

Two youths murdering a nun has absolutely nothing to do with Marilyn Manson or any other music. They murdered her and they have to take responsibility for their actions, to try to blame music for their actions is lame and pathetic.

Nutters who do something terrible are only influenced by music if it is available when they are particularly susceptible to a trigger to set them off. If it isn't music it would be something else.
The blaming of music is a red herring put about by the uncomprehending or those in search oif a glib explanation especially if it involves a person or thing easily vilified by the establishment.

I don't think films and games should be censored so why would I think music should be censored?

Nothing should ever be censored. Leave the finished product and let the consumer experience the material as the director / producer intended it to be. Hearing clean versions of tracks full of soundless gaps is stupid. If a song is deemed too explicit to a radio station then it shouldn't be played.

It's the full responsibility of parents to monitor their child's purchases as well as their internet usage. Blaming Eminem or Lil Wayne is just a cop out for bad parenting.

As long as CD's have a warning of 'explicit lyrics content' then that should be fine in my opinion.

No I said it was MEANT to have been because of that. That was the reason given. I did not actually say if this was correct or not.

My question is with music getting blamed in this way, should we have censorship or more compulsory warnings?

Not all of them do. Some artists are allowed to refuse and get away with it.