For many years, physical formats containing adult-oriented material have featured a logo warning "parental advisory explicit content." Digital media, however, hasn't displayed the same warning due to graphic lyrics or visuals. Now, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is looking to change that with a set of updated guidelines.
According to the BPI [via the Guardian], there is not yet a universal standard for parental advisory logos on internet services like YouTube, Spotify, Napster and Vevo. This might not be the case for long, however, as the BPI is looking to make its warnings as widespread online as they are on physical packaging.
"We think it is important for parents to get the same standards of guidance and information online as they get when buying CDs or DVDs on the high street," said BPI boss Geoff Taylor. "We are updating our parental advisory scheme for the digital age to ensure that explicit songs and videos are clearly labelled."
The BPI only covers media in Britain. Still, given the worldwide nature of most content on the internet, these guidelines are bound to impact consumers around the globe -- so don't be surprised if you one day see the parental advisory logo pop up when you watch a video on YouTube.
It's worth noting that iTunes already has its own parental advisory scheme. Presumably, it will be websites with user-generated content that will be most difficult to enforce.
According to the BPI [via the Guardian], there is not yet a universal standard for parental advisory logos on internet services like YouTube, Spotify, Napster and Vevo. This might not be the case for long, however, as the BPI is looking to make its warnings as widespread online as they are on physical packaging.
"We think it is important for parents to get the same standards of guidance and information online as they get when buying CDs or DVDs on the high street," said BPI boss Geoff Taylor. "We are updating our parental advisory scheme for the digital age to ensure that explicit songs and videos are clearly labelled."
The BPI only covers media in Britain. Still, given the worldwide nature of most content on the internet, these guidelines are bound to impact consumers around the globe -- so don't be surprised if you one day see the parental advisory logo pop up when you watch a video on YouTube.
It's worth noting that iTunes already has its own parental advisory scheme. Presumably, it will be websites with user-generated content that will be most difficult to enforce.
