Regulation in Music Videos

What is regulation?
Regulations are a set of rules/guidelines in which music video creators are advised to abide by if they want their video to be shown and allowed on various sites. For example, if a music video includes explicit material, nudity, offensive scenes etc. it would either not be shown on TV or have a warning at the beginning on sites like YouTube.

TV stations:

• Regulated by Ofcom
• Editorial standards must match Ofcom's code of conduct
• Government can place reporting restrictions on a case (if a teenager committed a murder)
• Super injunctions can be placed on high profile cases

The Internet:
There are no official regulations on the internet, however most sites have policies about their comments sections and various other areas:

• Twitter has been hugely under fire for the amount of abusive content it hosts
• Youtubers are now made to disclose whether they are being paid to advertise a product in their videos 
• Facebook banned photos including female nipples which caused mass controversy
• Most sites get away with these controversial issues due to blaming it all on 'User Generated Content'

Music Videos:
In the British music video industry, light touch regulations are put in place, which simply means that there are a set of guidelines or a polite agreement between production companies and companies such as Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music which are in everyone's best interest to stick by, but have no harsh consequences when violated. These regulations recommend music videos not to include:

• Violence
• Drug abuse
• Explicit sexual activity
• Dangerous behaviour presented as safe
• Bad language

Examples of videos which go against these guidelines include, Rihanna's 'Bitch Better Have My Money' video, Kanye West's 'Famous' Video, and Nine Inch Nail's 'Closer' video.

There are many different attitudes as to whether music videos should be regulated or not. A large amount of people believe that music videos should be regulated and restricted for older age groups if they feature mature content as they wouldn't want their children to view offensive and adult content, which is perfectly understandable. However, there is an argument that having restrictions on these videos only makes them more desirable to children as it becomes a 'wanting what you can't have situation.