89
. . .
lyrics began to rise with the introduction of rock and roll more than
30 years ago.
Senator GORE. Mr. Chairman, I am having trouble hearing
the witness.
The CHAIRMAN. If you would withhold, Ms. Waterman, I
want to apologize for the noise. If the officer could keep the door closed,
I would very much appreciate it.
Please continue.
Mrs. WATERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Throughout the history of recorded music, there have been complaints
about the contents of some songs. The outcry over music lyrics began
to rise with the introduction of rock and roll. While parents and
others interested in the well being of children have continued to
voice their concerns, the recording industry took no action to address
this current concern until August of 1985.
Briefly, the problem is that there are many songs which include lyrics
that may not be appropriate for young children or that send messages
that may be dangerous to individuals or society. Some examples of songs
that might be inappropriate for children are those that contain profane
language, sexual references, vulgarity or violence. Those that could be
dangerous to individuals or society invlude songs that promote suicide,
practice of the occult, rape, incest, murder or bondage, among others.
Until now, no one has suggested a reasonable solution to the problem.
By reasonable, we mean a solution that would not involve any form of
censorship but would protect consumers from exposure to materials they
feel may be harmful to themselves or children. Until 1984, no specific
proposals were made or acted upon by either the public or the industry,
at least none that we know of, that did not involve censorship.
In June of 1984, the National PTA's convention body, representing the
5.6 million members of the PTA, adopted a resolution which points out
that an unsuspecting public may buy records, tapes and cassettes which
contain explicit language, sexual references and inferences to situations
not commonly recommended for all age groups. Further, it addressed the fact
that there is currently no rating system in use for evaluating the content
of recordings, nor any markings on jackets or covers to indicate the content.
The resolution calls on the PTA to encourage recording companies to consider
the explicit contents of some songs and their responsibility to an
unsuspecting public. It also calls for recording companies to label record,
tape and cassette covers and indicate the nature of the questionable content.
In October of 1984 the president of the National PTA sent a letter to 30
record companies and the Recording Industry Association of America explaining
the resolution and suggesting that the industry convene a panel of consumer,
industry and recording artist representatives to establish standards that all
record companies could apply to determine which recordings need to bear a
warning label.
Because our proposal to establish standards has been met with misunderstanding
and confusion in the music industry, I would like to clarify it for this
committee. We are not suggesting that the panel review every new song and
rate it accordingly. We are
|
previous | next | contents