Censored versions of albums

MusicBrainz Style
1

Hello,
When looking for duplicate data, I often stumble upon so‐called clean versions and explicit versions of albums.
I understood now that in America they would bip some words and sell the former to children while keeping the latter away from them.
But what a bad choice of words, is the word clean really printed on releases or is it a habit taken on MB ?
To me, as far as I understood they are just (self‐/label‐)censored versions, why not using the correct words ?
There is nothing clean in removing some work lyrics.
To call it clean is a judgement.
We should stay impartial, this is not ratings.
Except if it is actually printed on the releases, but each time I checked I could not see that on covers.

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2

„Censored“ has clear negative connotations. So you’re basically exchanging one loaded word with another one.

Mind you, I agree with your stance that „censored“ is a better fit. But that’s probably because we share the opinion that this blipping practise is stupid.

Brainstorming other suggestions: „radio version“, „broadcast version“, „blipped version“, „for minor audiences“, „FCC-safe“, „veiled version“, „no swearwords“.

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“clean” is the standard industry term, AFAIK.

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I had to deal with only one such case, a reportedly censored Malaysian edition that I have not had in hands myself (nor seen photos of) so I can’t tell if it was even said that it was censored.
I have not seen such clean versions yet, with my eyes, so I don’t know if it is an MB habit to say clean or something that we can actually see printed on a package, somehow (any image links are welcome).

That’s certainly a +1 for clean.[quote=“docdem, post:2, topic:139391”]
„Censored“ has clear negative connotations.
[/quote]

And that’s a -1 against censored.
Actually I thought censored was not loaded negatively.
I thought it just meant the action to cut‐off things after having condemned some ideas.
But my dictionary indeed says that the word itself is the condemnation of ideas, not just the blind action that comes after.

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Clean is definitely the standard word used. It’s common to see “Track Name [Clean]” or"Track Name [Explicit]" on downloads.

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Okay so it would be mostly a digital world thing perhaps then. This would explain why I haven’t seen a clean cover yet.

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I distinctly remember seeing Korn, See You on the Other Side when I was younger but I guess it was the Parental Advisory label I was thinking of. There are versions with and without.

Here’s an example of “Clean”: http://eil.com/images/main/Korn+Good+God+-+Clean+Versions+347193.jpg

Another example: http://eil.com/images/main/Korn+Somebody+Someone+160912.jpg

Sometimes it says edited, though: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/4ZEAAOSwBLlU-Z93/$_1.JPG

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Thanks for the great illustrations of clean, @psychoadept!
So if it is the most frequent word, we can use it whenever there is no others like that edited, in which case we can use those printed specific words. :slight_smile::+1:

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There’s also the word “Dirty” used often for “Explicit¨ versions. It’s probably where the word “Clean” came from…

As far as I know, it started in the late 80’s with the rise of the “Parental Advisory” logo on releases. In the U.S.A, record stores weren’t allowed to sell thoses records to minors. The industry adjusted and started selling “clean versions” of albums that included profanity. Those aren’t always “bleeped” or edited. Sometimes artists came up with new lyrics and re-recorded songs for their clean album counterpart (especially in hip hop).

Here’s an interesting debate about the issue (straight from the 90’s!):
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fO-KzW1YXw
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2QYCV0hQII
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4n9xf0HJTs
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1_dl3ROH7E

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I really could swear there were jewel cases with “clean” stickers on them, but it’s kind of impossible to google because you get all the stuff about how to clean stickers off of jewel cases/covers

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11

Just out of interest, are you guys putting this into the title or the disambiguation?
Or is it dependent on whether it’s actually printed on the cover, or is on a sticker, etc?

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… but thankfully you didn’t.

SCNR, it’s hard to take this bleeping business seriously.

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[quote=“Lotheric, post:9, topic:139391, full:true”]
As far as I know, it started in the late 80’s with the rise of the “Parental Advisory” logo on releases. In the U.S.A, record stores weren’t allowed to sell thoses records to minors.[/quote]
It wasn’t so much that retailers weren’t allowed to sell such records to minors, it was more because they elected not to stock said records for fear of boycotts by conservative groups. There were never any laws (at least not at the federal or state level) restricting the sale of explicit music to minors; in fact the whole reason the RIAA adopted the Parental Advisory logo (it started as a sticker, but was later incorporated into the album covers themselves) was to prevent Congress from passing such laws.

Here’s the Senate hearing that started it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d65BxvSNa2o

I should probably also note that edited “clean” versions have another function: radio airplay. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC; the US government body that regulates television and radio transmissions) has rules about what words and content can and cannot be broadcast on radio/television, so record companies often create edited versions in order to get the songs played on air.

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