The Song Fight Bulletin Board

What is "Explicit Content"? Does anyone know what that actually means?

Just wondering if I need to label some of my stuff as such before I send my CD to a distributer. Many of my songs contain "adult themes" - but I'm not sure if that is "explicit content"

I am wondering about 3 bits on my new album:

I have one song that contains the line: "you shouldn't let my penis' malfunction come between us" - it is non-gratuitous use and an important part of the story - I assume that is OK

Anothe song (Under the Horse) is based entirely on the premise that Czarina Catherine the Great of Russia died while having sex with a horse. It contains no offensive words at all - just an offensive story.

And a third song (Clause 5, Sub-Paragraph b) uses the phrase "...red, hot blue-veined love machine" - OK, that one might be borderline - but it is screamed and hard to understand (though I will be providing printed lyrics with the CD).

Should I give myself a "Parental Advirory" sticker?

Absolutely. Albums that have a sticker like that are way more popular with the kids. I have no data to back up my claims.

I would say it qualifies alright.

Rone Rivendale wrote:I would say it qualifies alright.

Sorry - do you mean it qualifies for a sticker? Or it qualifies as non-offensive and doesn't need a warning?

Your opinion is important Rone. If this was just in Australia - I wouldn't worry about it No-one would consider that stuff offensive. But with iTunes - there is always the chance some little kiddie in heartland Oaklahoma may download it and sing it to the local vicar or whatever.....I don't know how it would play out there.

Why I ask is that the distributer I am using to sell the CDs in Aus/NZ has in their fine print that I will have to pay a penalty of any complaints received about songs not labelled offesnive, if they are offensive. (Of course - the anwer there is that they can jam their fine print up their arse, and I will use CD Baby to distribute it digitally instead. Does CD Baby have anything like that?).

But the question made me wonder.

In the United States, in order to require a Parental Advisory sticker, your lyrics must contain gratuitous use of the word "Fuck" (one or two uses throughout the album is okay) or a graphic description of either a.) the sex act, or b.) torture.

Like many "decency" standards in the U.S., these guidelines reserve the right to get more restrictive if you're black or gay, and they might slacken up a bit if you're Bruce Springsteen.

Caravan Ray, assuming that the lyrics to your "Under the Horse" haven't changed from the version that was submitted to Songfight, I don't think any of your lyrics would merit a sticker. You can always put one on there voluntarily if you're worried about people getting offended, but the watchdogs really only care about the four letter words.

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_a ... troversies

Generic wrote: Caravan Ray, assuming that the lyrics to your "Under the Horse" haven't changed from the version that was submitted to Songfight, I don't think any of your lyrics would merit a sticker.

The lyrics are basically unchaged. I have just added a "yahoo, some" "giddy ups" and some approprate horse noises. (song is completely re-recorded BTW. A big improvement on the SF entry)

Generic wrote: You can always put one on there voluntarily if you're worried about people getting offended, but the watchdogs really only care about the four letter words.

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_a ... troversies

Obviously I am not concerned about offending anyone, I was just amused by this clause in the agreement:
Parental Advisory Works: THE CAN expects the rightsholder to identify any releases
which contain explicit, offensive or otherwise objectionable lyrics. If rightsholder neglects
to label as explicit, the rightsholder agrees it shall pay $250 for each event, should
a complaint be waged by a digital entertainment Service to THE CAN.

However, seeing as how my CD will be described on their website as "11 foot-tapping tales of self-loathing, drunkedness and sexual perversion" - I think I am giving reasonable warning

All truly free lyrics have this statement attached:

If your lyrics contain any imagery or metaphoric language, then they are implicit, not explicit. Also any type of euphemisms are not explicit. Hope this helps.

Also:

Generic wrote:In the United States, in order to require a Parental Advisory sticker,

I had always thought the record industry was self-regulatory, and that those stickers were actually optional. Has this changed?

Eric Y. wrote:If your lyrics contain any imagery or metaphoric language, then they are implicit, not explicit. Also any type of euphemisms are not explicit. Hope this helps.

Also:

Generic wrote:In the United States, in order to require a Parental Advisory sticker,

I had always thought the record industry was self-regulatory, and that those stickers were actually optional. Has this changed?

The RIAA regulates it. It might be voluntary for independent artists and bands (I dunno), but the major label people don't have a choice. If there's more than two or three F-bombs in your album, it gets a sticker.

Does it cost anything for you to put the advisory on there? If not, I'd say it would be worth it to play it safe (seeing you're unsure yourself whether or not it should have it on there). Otherwise if some jackass does complain... you'd be out $250 per complaint?

As a consumer, is there any recourse should I buy an album with such a promise of explicit content, and in fact find none?

ujnhunter wrote:Does it cost anything for you to put the advisory on there? If not, I'd say it would be worth it to play it safe (seeing you're unsure yourself whether or not it should have it on there). Otherwise if some jackass does complain... you'd be out $250 per complaint?

No cost. It is talking about the little "expicit" warnings that appear on iTunes - not the physical CD.

It doesn't bother me adding them - but I just found the clause a bit heavy handed. I was curious if any other distributors do the same. I can't find a similar clause with CD Baby

And I don't like any clause where a party tries to sign away their responsibility to another party. If they take my money to agree to spread my filth - then they have to wallow in the muck with me, not charge me more for it

Eric Y. wrote:If your lyrics contain any imagery or metaphoric language, then they are implicit, not explicit. Also any type of euphemisms are not explicit. Hope this helps.

That is a very good point I had overlooked. Most of my potty talk is certainly implicit rather than explicit.

irwin wrote:As a consumer, is there any recourse should I buy an album with such a promise of explicit content, and in fact find none?

Yes - that is the other side of the coin. I'd fucking hate to disappoint people.

Caravan Ray wrote:Most of my potty talk is certainly implicit rather than explicit.

Yeah, you gotta work on that.

Caravan Ray wrote:

Rone Rivendale wrote:I would say it qualifies alright.

Sorry - do you mean it qualifies for a sticker? Or it qualifies as non-offensive and doesn't need a warning?
Your opinion is important Rone..

I meant it qualifies for a sticker. But that's just my opinion.