- Warning labels for the new conservatism
- The formation of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)
- Conservative Republicans gained political control Washington
- Led by Ronald Reagan
- Lasted through the entire decade
- Tipper Gore (wife of then senator—later vice president Al Gore) formed the PMRC
- With a number of other powerful Washington, D.C., parents
- PMRC initially sought to educate parents about the content of popular music
- Used political and media clout to advocate "voluntary" use of warning labels on recordings
- The drawbacks to warning labels
- Popular music is based in rebellion against authority
- Warning labels will only enhance offensive material's appeal
- What they don't affect:
- Live performances
- Cassettes
- Bootlegs
- Counterfeits
- No solution for songs that were already widely available
- The Supreme Court had ruled that music was free speech
- The Senate hearings on "pornographic content" of music
- Held by the Senate Commerce, Technology, and Transportation Committee in September 1995
- Testimony was given by a wide spectrum of people
- Members of the PMRC
- Record industry representatives
- University of Texas at San Antonio professor
- Child psychiatrist
- The musicians who testified:
- Folk-pop star John Denver
- Avant-garde counter-culture hero Frank Zappa
- Glam/metal singer Dee Snider of Twisted Sister
- Topics discussed
- Subliminal and hidden messages in heavy metal
- Associations between metal lyrics and various forms of antisocial behavior
- The hearings created pressure for a labeling system
- Labeling was not effective
- Gangsta rap emerged shortly after the hearings
- Advisory label became a de facto certificate of authenticity
- Musicians even competed for media attention by using progressively more offensive lyrics
