Live Music = Profanity, debate!

Tripping:

martinput:BBC news article link

Is it inevitable that given a live audience cult musicians will swear for effect?

Live8 contracts in the UK did not permit the use of a safety time delay censor and the artists took full advantage of that.

The BBC duly received criticism for the consequences of that - but their hands were tied by the situation.

Should contracts with artists have significant punative fines imposed on them for profanity? They knew that there was no time delay, they knew that there was a young impressionable audience - yet still they brought out strings of expletives?

Why should the broadcaster take the flak?

Martin

BBC blasted for Madonna's Live 8 profanity Tuesday February 21, 09:35 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC has been chastised by the media regulator for broadcasting profanity and offensive language from artists including Madonna, Green Day and Snoop Dogg during last summer's Live 8 concert.

Ofcom criticised the BBC's failure to use a standard delay to filter out offensive language during the event, which gathered more than a billion people in cities across the world to pressure rich nations to do more for the poor.

It said the broadcaster "should have anticipated an audience for this event which would include a significant number of children."

Madonna opened her performance with an expletive and a user of the BBC Web site later wrote in the Live 8 comments section: "I would have liked my 7-year-old to see a piece of history in the making, however I do not want her to think that swearing is the way to ending poverty."

The BBC told the regulator it regretted any offence caused to viewers, "particularly the stream of expletives and racist terms used by the act Snoop Dogg," one of the world's most famous rappers. The broadcaster noted that the event was billed as a live concert, and that any delay was forbidden under its contract with organisers.

It never ceases to amaze me that Madonna doesn't let her children watch TV....but it's perfectly fine to have profanity come out of her mouth so the children of other people have to hear her....

I think an artist should be allowed to swear on stage if they want to

not their fault the BBC made a cock up AGAIN!!!

Mick Jagger swears on stage

I know you from somewhere

Well while were on the "profanity" subject??

Your censored right there you silly censored censored and censored and censored on the censored bleep ya stupid censored censored

we brits know how to swear

I am not a prude. I will admit to using profanity myself. However, I truly believe that people who wish to be public role models should temper the profanity, particularly on public television. However, in addition to the profanity, I think the subjects of rape, spousal abuse, drug use, and cop killing, to name a few, have become too mainstream in our society. Most of the time, I can't understand what the heck the performer is screaming (trying to pass off as music) anway. What do you all think is the answer?

Well although I agree that over use of profanity is generally a sign of laziness (or spontanious tourette's syndrome ), and I do find myself occasionally drifting in that direction myself ... but hopefully not too often.

Having said that tho', the thing that kind of got me was during the ABC rebroadcast here in the US (the two hour edited version) they censored the line from The Who song "Who Are You" ... given that the song is decades old, obviously well known and liked (or else it wouldn't have been included) it seemed a little sacreligious to have a major divet in the sound during that one lyric. Given that this was a scant 2-hour scaled down sampling of the highlights ... it just seemed odd to me.

Evidently the surgeon general has determined that swearing is bad for the FCC. How will we ever survive!!!?!

patpatpatti:

It's not so much a sign of laziness as it is an increasingly accepted societal/cultural norm. I've been a high school teacher for twenty years and have seen the gradual increase in students' use of profanity. It requires constant effort on the part of teachers to discourage students' use. They don't even realize they're using it, indeed, they don't really think of it as "profanity" anymore.

patti ops:

You know patti ... I actually totally agree with that assessment.

Although I'm not on the teacher side of the delimma that your speaking of, I am taking coursework and have had to walk away from a couple of study groups that were taking it "way too far" for my ears (ended up employing earplugs at one point ... a rarity for me). Really became annoying, and the group was mixed ... 40-somethings and 20-somethings (and me a 30-something), yet once they started down that particular road the 40-something was just as prone to the dialog (if not more so) as the 20-somethings. That's kind of why I said that it may just be laziness as opposed to "youthful indulgence."

The funny thing about this is ... the class was a 'Introduction to Logic' course. Basically consisted of a form of reasoning called 'Truth-Functional' and entailed a good deal of symbolic representation of arguments. In the lexicon of Philosophical Logic (i.e. think Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, etc.) an argument isn't what it is in the contemporary sense ... it's merely a position held and justified as either "true" or "false" based upon breaking it down into a table form and then determining if it is valid or invalid. Just an FYI ... some of those arguments/statements could be pretty ridiculous, or pretty controversal, or just really, really drawn out.

Glad I took it ... but glad it's done, my brain was taxed to the hilt taking that and 'Engineering: Ethics, Contracts and Patents' simultaneously.

I think they should pass an exemption for Roger Daltrey only. That's it, he's the only one who can use the F-word on live TV or radio. The rest of us gotta watch out:
When The Who performed "Tommy" at Radio City Music Hall in 1989, it was broadcast live on US radio...and his introduction was:
"We'd like to ask...for a little QUIET...'cos...as KEITH MOON would have said:
'Ave a little respect...
It's a F*****G OPERA!!"

"Ay, son...don't comment!" :
http://paulmccartneyrules.blogspot.com/ : "At the London Q awards..."
Talk about effect!

nellie apple:If Sir Paul swears in which he never done or I never heard of ---I am going to neither disrespect him or not support him. However, the man is a good man. Some musicians swear to get attention!

you ever hear Paul swear! Paul swears it sounds soo dang cool!!!
I don't mind it at all! its natural. I luv it! lol
but you would have to push him to get him flustered. and you don't wanna go their at all! that would be indecent! disrespectful, and mean and cruel, then Id have to knock your lights out! cause you upset him! hehehehehe! just kiddin, you know : :