The music industry has been labeling products with explicit content for over a decade.. but is it enough?

Web posted on: Thursday, July 01, 1999 5:21:31 PM EDT

From Correspondent Mark Scheerer

(CNN) -- The music business, like much of the rest of the entertainment industry, is facing fallout from youth violence -- most recently, the high school shooting in Littleton, Colorado. Artists, executives and labels are being called to account for what some perceive as the impact violent lyrics may have on impressionable young minds.

While the issue has been at the forefront of the music industry for several years, it reached a crisis point most recently when the names of two rock bands surfaced in the aftermath of Littleton.

The two teen-age suicidal assailants in the massacre reportedly listened to Rammstein, an industrial-metal group based in Germany, and KMFDM -- one of the first big-selling industrial-rock bands, formed in Paris in 1984 .

Some observers, including Rep. Henry Hyde, Republican of Illinois, say they think there may be a cause-and-effect relationship between violent lyrics and violent acts.

"This is something many parents fear and we ought to study if some modern music does indeed impart a sense of death on America's youth," Hyde has said on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Despite a program of voluntary parental-guidance stickers that's been in effect for over a decade, Hyde's comments reflect new pressure on the music industry. The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have launched a year-long investigation into whether the music industry and other media are effectively marketing violence to young people.

Reaction from musicians has been swift.

Ice Cube, rapper: "When you start censoring the books and censoring the video games and censoring the TV and the movies, you're going to still have people with their problems and you're still going to have these situations."

Hilary Rosen, representing the Recording Industry Association of America, says that even the question of what's classified as violent isn't clear-cut.

"I think it's really hard to judge what violent content is," she says. "I believe that our companies and our artists are very careful about making sure that when lyrics have explicit content that they're stickered. And that parents know there's a warning on the record."

It's not unusual to find scenes of violence in music videos

Changing his tune

At least one well-known musician -- Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys -- has changed his thinking on the influence popular music can have on listeners' behavior.

The Beastie Boys used to rap about carrying guns and smoking "angel dust," slang for the hallucinogenic drug PCP.

"(These were) things that we didn't do at all but that seemed funny to put into lyrics," says Yauch. "And I remember kids coming up to me and identifying with that, and being like, 'Yeah, I used to listen to your record and smoke dust all the time.' And I was like, 'Oh, my God!' So I think you do get an awareness after a while when you're making music or making films or whatever -- you start to notice that what you're doing is affecting society."

Rosen says other musicians could learn from Yauch.

"I think that artists like Adam are sending exactly the right message to young people, which is: 'You need to think for yourself, you need to explore your own feelings, and when you're angry, use music as an outlet, not as an excuse.'"

Legislation that would have banned minors from purchasing music with violent content -- and a provision that would have forced store owners to provide copies of lyrics to shoppers over 17 -- have been defeated in Congress. But the FTC and Justice Department investigation presses on, putting unprecedented, high-profile pressure on those who work in music and other entertainment media.

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RELATED STORIES:

TV manufacturers meet first v-chip deadline
July 1, 1999
Hollywood, government face off over violence in media
June 30, 1999
Study: Educational value of some TV shows questionable
June 28, 1999
Hollywood aims to prevent 'government intrusion' after violent incidents
June 27, 1999
Record warning labels under fire in Senate
June 17, 1998

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RELATED SITES:

Federal Trade Commission
U.S. Department of Justice
Recording Industry Association of America

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