[cma-l] Attn: Urban stations.... language?

Mon Feb 20 09:01:01 GMT 2017

We've been caught out a number of time chaps at mid-day, tea-time, in the
morning etc etc    with apparent '''Radio Edit''' version of songs !
(which clearly are not Vicar)

I think what has happened is standards have dropped over the years so what
someone thought was sailing close to the wind 15 years ago is now passed as
'no big deal'

My advice to Urban Stations on this one would be        stick some Frank
Sinatra on   :

Rapper MC Dumpty

From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
[mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Eddie Stuart
Sent: 19 February 2017 17:25
To: The Community Media Association Discussion List
<cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Attn: Urban stations.... language?

I always thought that it was what was "appropriate" and an audience "might
expect"....

So, on a rap station in South London, at midnight, my expectation would be
that there might well be swear words.

Conversely, at drivetime on a more middle of the road station, I wouldn't
have that expectation so it wouldn't be appropriate.

That said, I am still convinced that even the slightly moderated version of
Lady Gaga, Poker Face, still has the f-word after 'poke her face' and gets
played daytime on Radio 2...!!! (& she is on video on You-Tube boasting that
she fooled the world over that one)

But like I said, I got the impression that the key words were "expectation"
& "appropriate" - it goes beyond swear words..... - see song lyrics below...
:-)

Eddie

On 01/11/11 12:29, Eddie Stuart wrote:

It's not just explicit songs - I'd use the word "appropriate"

I think that we'd all agree that the Glasgow station who tried to say that
the Fword was every day speech and that panini didn't mean a certain body
part was having a laugh and were rightly kicked.

However, the danger is that we get knee-jerk reactions that have unintended
consequences. Ban Eminem, but then you knock out the song that made Dido
famous and is OK.

You really need someone of the right age to vet a lot of rap and similar
stuff - I am old enough to saythat I would have probably caught panini -
especially given the words around it, but a lot of street slang is just way
beyond my ken - both musically (?!!) and lyrically.

We have a lot of Gaelic up here and a wonderful column in yesterdays
Aberdeen Press & Journal commented on the ATM in East London using Cockney
rhyming slang and asking why the Gaelic Mafia weren't agitating for their
version up here. The columnist points out that in Gaelic rhyming slang a
withdrawal would be a "cnap" - literally a lump of money, ie a wad of cash.
Unfortunately for non-Gaels, the "n" is pronounced here as an "r" and would
thus sound like the word that got Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" banned when it
was first released.

The English nickname "Bot" caused total hilarity with Gaelic speaking school
kids in Stornoway many years ago as they couldn't believe that anyone, let
alone a visiting Deputy Headmaster, was openly called "*rse".

Eric Bogle, much loved as an artist by many of our older Presenters, has a
song "Guns, Guns, Guns" which is a mickey take on the American way of life.
The day after Dunblane or the recent Tomintoul Gamekeeper tragedy, many
people and possibly Ofcom would probably regard that song as at least as
inapproriate as the Fword!

I wouldn't play "I Predict A Riot" the night that Tottenham burned and hope
that everyone else was that sensible. But if you're using an automated
playout system out of hours.....?? Do you watch the news and then quickly
scan your entire music collection?

So yes, you should certainly vet music and not load/play certain tracks. The
Fword is an obvious one. But you also need to stress "appropriateness", not
just a very narrow "explicit"

You also need to accept that with the best will in the world, something will
go wrong once in a while and have procedures in place to handle it. The
Fword is easy, others become more subjective and station specific.

That's my personal opinion, anyway.

Must go now and finish my playlist for tonight - hmm, now which excellent
track by my favourite female rock band Fanny shall we start with?

On 01/11/11 14:20, Julian Mellor wrote:

Very well said Eddie. 

Makes me wonder how one deals with double entendre.  At face value the word
may be innocent, but to the attuned ear it could be very lude, rude or even
abusive.  And that gets even more complex when it's combined with street
slang (what was that word anyway?), or street slang from other languages
(there's an urban track I want to play from Marseille, sung in a mixture of
French and Algerian Arabic - can anyone translate to make sure it's safe?).

Maybe we should just keep safe and select only from the Classic Gold
playlist.

Julian

On 01/11/11 14:36, Eddie Stuart wrote:

Hmm - a Classic playlist, eh?

This is from a 1948 song by Bull Moose Jackson which I wouldn't want to
justify to any feminists.....

I want a bow legged Woman

      that's all

      I want a bow legged Woman that's all

      I'll fall in love with Her right from the start

      Because her big fat Legs are so far apart

      I want a bow legged

      Woman right now

      I want to find me A gal somehow

      She's gotta be built like an ol' bass fiddle

      Big bow legs and a hole in the middle

      Gotta be on my way,

      To find a bow legged Woman today. 

Not a swear word in sight! 

KCR broadcasts across Moray and beyond on 107.7FM
and to the world on the internet at http://kcr.fm
https://www.facebook.com/KCR107.7/

KCR is the operating name of Keith Community Radio Ltd.
Registered in Scotland: No SC 173805
Registered Office: 59a Land Street, Keith, Banffshire, AB55 5AN

On 19/02/17 16:32, Rhys Phillips (Radio Cardiff) wrote:

No we don't know "the answer". My question wasn't "what is allowed by
Ofcom?". My question was "what do other urban stations do?". 

We, as an urban music station want to make a decision on this (we've allowed
bad language late at night up until now) and if we are going to change it,
we want to know what other similar stations are doing to help us benchmark
where we sit. 

On Sun, Feb 19, 2017 at 4:17 PM Neil Munday <neilm at susyradio.com
<mailto:neilm at susyradio.com> > wrote:

There you go you know the answer! 

But with the code of offensive words and sayings having just been revised
and most teenagers ( children) being up to the small hours when is a good
time to put this type of music in the playlist?

Neil

On Sun, 19 Feb 2017 at 15:58, Rhys Phillips (Radio Cardiff)
<rhys.phillips at radiocardiff.org <mailto:rhys.phillips at radiocardiff.org> >
wrote:

That is just factually incorrect Neil. Ofcom guidance clearly states: 

"Ofcom recognises that music is a fundamental component of radio
programming. In addition, we recognise that there is a tradition of certain
genres of music including potentially offensive lyrics in songs. In line
with the broadcaster's right to freedom of expression and the audience's
right to receive information and ideas, it is important that broadcasters
have the editorial freedom to broadcast potentially offensive content,
provided it complies with the Code."

The only thing the code says is that it shouldn't go out at times when
children are likely to be listening.

Therefore it's down to the station to decide if they want it to be part of
their sound / is it what their audience want to hear.

Hence my question to other urban stations who are likely to have a similar
audience to us.

On Sun, Feb 19, 2017 at 3:32 PM Neil Munday <neilm at susyradio.com
<mailto:neilm at susyradio.com> > wrote:

It's simple there's the Ofcom code for FM/AM/DAB broadcasters. There is no
watershed on radio (at the moment) therefore the answer is No you can't play
any. But you as a broadcaster and or a presenter should already know that
that has been key to broadcasting in the U.K as far back as I can remember. 

Neil 

On Sun, 19 Feb 2017 at 15:21, Rhys Phillips (Radio Cardiff)
<rhys.phillips at radiocardiff.org <mailto:rhys.phillips at radiocardiff.org> >
wrote:

Hello, 

I'm interested in hearing what policies urban music stations put in place
for bad language in songs.

E.g. for hip hop music, over half the genre includes offensive language and
if you're an urban station with specialist (late night) hip hop shows, do
you allow this music to be played? Or do you insist on only clean stuff
going out?

Rhys

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