The BPI’s
Parental Advisory Scheme has been in place for some time, but the music industry trade body has been looking to develop this further in response to more recently expressed concerns, including from government and the public, that some music video content may be unsuitable for family viewing. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently announced an age-ratings pilot aimed at addressing this issue, calling for greater parental guidance to help protect children from unsuitable content and for rules for online videos to fall in line with content bought offline.
The BPI and participating record labels (from
Sony Music UK,
Universal Music UK and
Warner Music UK) have therefore been working with the BBFC to develop a pilot to introduce and test age-ratings and guidance for new music videos to be released online in the UK. This guidance will accompany age-rated music videos as they are released to the two Digital Service Providers (DSPs) that have also committed to take part in this initiative –
Vevo and
YouTube.
Commenting on the pilot,
David Austin, Assistant Director at the BBFC, said:
“Our most recent large scale research, carried out in 2013 and involving more than 10,000 people, highlighted access to music videos containing sexualised imagery, self-harm, drug use and violence as a key concern for parents. Parents are eager to have more input over the types of content their children access, particularly online. By applying understood and trusted BBFC age ratings to online music videos this pilot is a vital step in meeting this demand for choice and child protection.”Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive of the BPI added:
“We want to give parents the information they need to make more informed decisions about the music videos they are happy for their children to see. That’s why we introduced the Parental Advisory Scheme almost 20 years ago and why we are now working with the BBFC and with video platforms to pilot age ratings for UK music videos. We hope that if the pilot is successful, video services will consider introducing parental filters as a key next step.”
Overall summary of the process
Where a label participating in the pilot considers that a music video it plans to release online in the UK would be given at least a 12-rating were it to be reviewed by the BBFC, it will submit the video to the BBFC for an official rating (videos deemed not to contain content that would attract at least a 12 rating will not have to be submitted*).
If appropriate, the BBFC will then issue a 12, 15 or 18 rating – in line with its BBFC Classification Guidelines. As part of the ratings process the BBFC will also include bespoke content advice, called BBFC insight, which may, for example, relate to scenes of sexual imagery or other content deemed inappropriate.
Once they have received it from the BBFC, the labels will then pass on any rating and guidance when releasing their videos to the two DSPs – Vevo and YouTube, who will, in turn, display it when the videos are broadcast.
The pilot is expected to run for at least three months, and will operate in two phases: the first commencing 3rd October – will focus on developing/refining the process of how labels submit music videos to the BBFC and how this guidance is then passed on to the DSPs; and the second phase – to commence at a later date to be announced by the two DSPs in due course – which will see them begin the process of displaying this guidance on-screen.
* It is estimated that around 20% of music videos released within the pilot are likely to be subject to a rating – the large majority are unlikely to contain content that would be rated 12 or greater. This estimate is based on a previous video catalogue audit of one of the companies taking part in the pilot.
Phase 1 – from 3rd October 2014
This first phase is mainly about ensuring that the process of rating music video content is up and running and that two Digital Service Providers are provided with all the ratings/guidance information they need (from the participating labels and from the BBFC) to be able to screen appropriate age ratings and BBFC insight when broadcasting a music video that forms part of the pilot.
This process is now up and running – so that for the start of the pilot on October 3rd the two DSPs will commence receiving the information they need to include age ratings and BBFC insight once they are in a position to include this in their broadcast.
How the age ratings and BBFC insight are to be presented on-screen, and the date (within the pilot) from which they will be broadcast is a matter for the DSPs to confirm, as their systems are currently in the process of being developed. Further details on this next phase will therefore be announced by the two DSPs in due course.
Once over, the pilot and any proposed next steps will be evaluated – both in terms of its operational effectiveness and any consumer feedback.
