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Title: Industry Slow To Reform Marketing Violence To Kids. (cover story) Subject (s): VIOLENCE in mass media United States; SOUND recording industry United States; ADVERTISING &# 038; youth United States; UNITED States. Federal Trade Commission; LIEBERMAN, Joseph Political &# 038; social views Source: Billboard, 05 / 05 / 2001, Vol. 113 Issue 18, p 1, 2 p, 1 c Author (s): Holland, Bill Abstract: Looks at reaction to a follow-up study released by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which criticized the record industry for not offering reforms to prevent the marketing of violent products to children. Comment from Senator Joseph Lieberman about the Recording Industry Association of America; Information about a bill the would authorize the FTC to monitor and fine entertainment industries that deceptively market adult-rated material to children; AN: 4382343 ISSN: 0006 - 2510 Database: Academic Search Premier Best Part INDUSTRY SLOW TO REFORM MARKETING VIOLENCE TO KIDS Dateline: WASHINGTON, D. C. Officials from mental health, childrens, and public interest groups made scathing indictments of record industry officials after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an April 24 follow-up study lambasting the industry for not making reforms to prevent the marketing of violent product to children.
Im surprised and disappointed in the record industry, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. , told Billboard April 26 after the announcement of a bill, co-sponsored by former first lady and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N. Y. , and Herb Kohl, D-Wis. , that would authorize the FTC to monitor and fine entertainment industries that deceptively market adult-rated material to children. Especially since the two other industries, the movie studios and the video-game industry, have made strides to improve their marketing in the last six months. Lieberman said the Recording Industry Assn.
of America (RIAA) has sadly been MIA i. e. , missing in action. Six months [after the FTC report], we can see who has responded to the report and who has failed to answer the call, Clinton said at the joint announcement of the bill. We are basing this [bill] on a very simple premise: If you label something as inappropriate for children, then you go out and try to entice our children to buy your product or see it, you have engaged in false and deceptive advertising.
The bill, if passed, would give the FTC the authority to penalize companies with civil fines of up to $ 11, 000 per offense. RIAA senior executive VP and general counsel Cary Sherman commented that the bill raises serious constitutional red flags and would have the unintentional result of discouraging participation in the industry's voluntary sticking program. That announcement of the bill follows an April 24 statement from the chairman of the Commerce Committee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. , and Sens.
Ernest Hollings, D-S. C. ; Sam Brownback, R-Kan. ; and Max Cleland, D-Ga. , critical that the industry stopped short of legislative remedy. The Ftc's snapshot update looked at what had changed since its initial September 2000 report on violence and media (Billboard, Sept. 23). The FTC found that the movie and video-game industries had instituted reforms but that the record industry had not made good on promises. Andrew Schwartzman, president of public interest law firm the Media Access Group, believes the industry has brought the criticism upon itself.
There is a difference between what one has a right to do and what is socially responsible, he says. It appears they have targeted a mass audience for this material, and then theyre horrified when its discovered what theyve done. Theyre being duplicitous in the end, theyre lying. He continues, They say theyre not marketing to kids, but they are. If they say one thing and do another, some people are going to argue that thats an unfair trade practice in violation of the law.
So theyre going to have to accept the consequences, and the consequences are going to be contrary to artists interests and their own long-term interests. Jeff McIntyre, federal affairs officer for the American Psychological Assn. , says, Basically, its cowardly if youre not going to stand behind your word and not believe in your artists product enough to make sales without having to back down behind Congress back and then target this stuff at preadolescent's. Dr. Michael Rich, spokesman for the American Pediatric Assn.
s committee on education, says hes not surprised by the Ftc's findings. I didnt get a sense from [RIAA president Hilary Rosen's] testimony at the original hearing in the fall, or from what has happened since, that theres much effort in any genuine sense to do anything about it. Rich also continues to be alarmed by the unavailability in stores of so-called sanitized versions of songs that children hear on radio. Ive gone into Tower and HMV [in Boston], and you cant get airplay versions. In fact, its considered reprehensible in some stores to even carry sanitized versions. RIAA PLAN WITHDRAWN The FTC criticized the RIAA for withdrawing a plan to withhold ads from media with an under- 17 audience of more than 50 %.
The trade group explained it did so because of the suggestion by some federal lawmakers last fall that companies could be prosecuted for enforcement failings. Pam Horvitz, president of the National Assn. of Record Merchandisers (NARM), says the lawsuit serves as a perfect example of what could happen to [label and retailers] exposing us to liability for failing to enforce voluntary guidelines. The RIAA had announced its guidelines Sept. 1, shortly before the original Senate hearing (Billboard, Sept. 13). They included three major updates: that advertising for labeled records should not appear in publications or Internet sites where 50 % of the audience is under 17, that all consumer print ads of explicit-content albums display the advisory sticker, and that E-tailers clearly display notice of stickers material through all phases of the transaction. At the time the RIAA announced the guidelines last September, Rosen's response to the following days FTC report included her statement, No good deed goes unpunished.
Responding on April 25 to FTC criticism that, some six months later, the RIAA had not yet implemented its own promised guidelines, Rosen stated, Any legislation that references a voluntary program creates a disincentive to comply. It winds up proving that no good deed goes unpunished. Confronted with the appearance the RIAA was trying to have things both ways, Mary K. Engle of the Ftc's Bureau of Consumer Protection and director of the study told Billboard the commissions slam came because the RIAA either withdrew or didnt follow through on all its own recommendations. They gave us three, and we were looking at all three, Engle says. Then they only withdrew one of them not placing ads in media with a 50 % under- 17 audience.
But they didnt withdraw the other two and they didnt act on those two. VIOLENT SONG ADS ON TV The FTC shows that U. S. record companies continue to advertise violent songs on TV through such outlets as BET, MTV, and the WWF Smackdown wrestling show.
The ads appeared during the after-school and early-evening hours when children were most likely to be watching. The FTC also found that the five major labels placed ads for albums with explicit content in such teen oriented magazines as Vibe and Right On, which focus on rap and R&# 038; B, and Thrasher and Metal Edge, which celebrate metal rock music. Universal Music Group placed more advertisements 25 for stickers albums in youth magazines than any other label. Warner Music Group had the fewest, with seven ads. Only 45 of 147 (31 %) print ads reviewed for labeled recordings displayed any parental advisory label, the FTC noted, and those were frequently a black-and-white blur, often too small or inconspicuously placed to be noticed or seen. The report also found that: There were few advisory label disclosures on TV ads.
A spot check found that only five of 23 ads showed the advisory label, and none were clearly legible. On record company Web sites, less than half of the sites provided notice of a recordings explicit content. Few were legible. Such E-tailers as Amazon, Bestbuy. com, and Canon did better in providing some information about the explicit nature of the recordings. Only Amazon complied fully with warnings in large, easy-to-read print, prominently displayed.
The study also said that neither the RIAA nor any of its members, however, is willing to provide content description in advertising or labeling. MUSIC INDUSTRY RESPONSE Rosen said in a written statement that the RIAA didnt have time to update its two remaining reforms: Unfortunately, the FTC report followed too quickly on the heels of our implementation of these new efforts. Michael Greene, president/CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, says the RIAA is getting a raw deal from the FTC for the withdrawn plan to refrain from placing stickers-product ads in youth-oriented media. Greene says, To have some of the states and private individuals and then even the inference that the FTC legal counsel themselves were going to look into bringing charges because that voluntary process was not being implemented expeditiously enough, what did they expect the RIAA to do? Of course they pulled it back.
Danny Goldberg, chairman/CEO of Artemis Records, says that while the FTC is right in calling for updated sticking policies, it crossed a line. The FTC made two main points: one reasonable, that the industry show parental stickers in ads, and one unreasonable the FTC seems to have made a dictatorial decision that children under 17 shouldnt be allowed to buy stickers albums. This is not appropriate. Goldberg says that while I totally respect the views of those who choose not to allow their children to listen [to such albums], they have no right to put that value system on the whole country.
But Noah Stone, newly hired executive director of the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC), says the RAC believes that while artists across the board are First Amendment advocates, because artists arent involved in the marketing of their albums, they want the labels to do so in a truthful and appropriate manner. NO VISUAL CORRELATION? While the FTC recognized the efforts of the movie and video-game industries to address the Ftc's concerns, Engle asserts that the RIAA ignored all of our suggestions, such as moving to a one-size-fits-all warning label. Many record industry officials- and some lawmakers believe that a label that describes visual media and offers age requirements, such as for movies, videos, and video games, cannot be applied to sound recordings. Theres just no correlation between visuals and lyrics, which can be interpretive, Goldberg says. Yet other observers have often noted that the music industry has spent two decades helping support the visual media of music videos and music television networks to both interpret and promote the sale of specific music recordings via television.
Engle also takes the RIAA to task for spinning numbers in its post-study statement, which says that the original FTC report in September states that 75 % of parents are satisfied with the Riaa's voluntary parental advisory program. They have misinterpreted what we reported, she says. That 75 % number was only of the parents who were aware of the system. You have to subtract out the parents who had never even heard of the system. And when you do that, the number of parents who said they were somewhat satisfied or satisfied drops to about 54 %. The FTC study chief also took individual record companies to task for not stepping up to the plate with reforms.
Just because the trade association didnt institute changes doesnt mean that individual member companies couldnt have done so. Meanwhile, the Ftc's Engle was pleased by one facet of Rosen's written statement, which read, We agree that we need to do a better job of following our own guidelines. Engle says, I was glad to read that. Shes never said that before.
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