Prompt Cast
The Unintended Consequences of the Parents Music Resource Center's Efforts to Label Albums with Explicit Lyrics
TLDR The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) formed to label albums with explicit lyrics, but their actions unintentionally led to increased sales for explicit content, local law enforcement targeting artists, and the normalization of explicit content in music.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The podcast discusses the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) and their efforts to label albums with explicit lyrics, but also highlights the unintended consequences of their actions.
04:49
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was formed as an extension of the tradition of adults criticizing new music, and it was influenced by Tipper Gore's concern about explicit lyrics in a Prince song.
09:58
The PMRC was initially scared that labeling albums as not suitable for kids would hurt sales, but when Tipper Gore and her friends got involved, the dynamics changed and they formed the PMRC with a grant from Mike Love of the Beach Boys, who is known for being a jerk, and the recording industry pushed for a heavy tax on cassette tapes to combat declining record sales.
14:40
The PMRC was able to generate a media blitz and make explicit lyrics on albums a national conversation through their connections and visibility, leading to a Senate hearing on labeling records as explicit.
20:43
Legislation in multiple states began to require explicit labels on albums, leading the RIAA to agree to the PMRC's demands and hold a Senate hearing, which may have been intended to boost Al Gore's image, and the PMRC proposed a system of explicit tags similar to movie ratings.
25:49
Dee Snyder criticizes the Gore family and defends himself as a responsible parent who reads lyrics and screens music for his children.
30:41
The PMRC was not a voluntary rating system, but rather an attempt to censor and sanitize American popular culture to the tastes of the moral majority.
35:46
The PMRC claimed they were not trying to censor anything, but their actions and statements revealed that they were indeed attempting to censor and legislate morality in the music industry.
40:37
Frank Zappa argued that the concern over explicit lyrics in music should be the responsibility of parents, not the government, and emphasized the importance of free speech and individuality.
47:02
The PMRC's criteria for applying parental advisory stickers on music albums was inconsistent and biased, as evidenced by the fact that rap and heavy metal albums were targeted while country albums with explicit content were not.
52:12
The PMRC's efforts to censor music albums through parental advisory stickers had unintended consequences, such as increasing sales for albums with explicit content, leading to local law enforcement targeting artists and performers, and ultimately normalizing explicit content in music rather than preventing it.
57:24
The PMRC's presence in music led to references in songs and ultimately increased their attention, but they disbanded in the 90s and Tipper Gore now plays drums for the Grateful Dead.
Categories:
Society & Culture
