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Title: Teen Tunes Get the Rap From Censoring Body
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Korean authorities categorize albums that contain songs with what they consider sensational or lewd material as albums that shouldn't be sold to people under 19.
Record companies are obliged to attach special labels, and record shops have to set up a separate area for those records.
But there was a rare sighting this time. At the top of the shelf were the latest albums by two major artists in Korea, possibly two of the most famous and successful pop singers in the country: Dong Bang Shin Gi, a boy band also known as TVXQ, and Rain.
TVXQ's fourth album, "Mirotic," has sold more than 482,000 copies as of Nov. 30 since its release in September, making it the best-selling album since Seo Tai-ji put out his seventh album in 2004.
Not only that, TVXQ won the Grand Award, one of the most prestigious awards in Korea's pop industry, at the Golden Disk Awards last Wednesday.
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Just last month, the Commission on Youth Protection, under the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, categorized TVXQ's Mirotic and Rain's Rainism as "harmful material for youths," along with 108 other recent songs.
Since its launch in November 2006, the commission has passed the same verdict on 926 Korean songs, 529 so far this year, which is 50 percent more than last year.
The Korea Media Rating Board began to rate songs in 1999 in line with the revised Youth Protection Law. The job was transferred to the Commission on Youth Protection in 2006.
The songs categorized as harmful materials for young people cannot be broadcast before 10 p.m. If they are not labeled according to the law, the record producers or music shop owners face fines or even imprisonment.
But in the decade since the rating system was put into operation, top acts have not been affected.
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As for Mirotic, the commission said the general mood of the song is highly suggestive and could have a negative impact on teenagers. But such an inarticulate explanation has both TVXQ's producers and, of course, the fans furious.
"We will make a clean version in accordance with the commission's administrative order, but since we cannot fully accept the ruling, we plan to make a provisional disposition with the relevant court to nullify the administrative order," said an official with SM Entertainment, TVXQ's management company.
If SM Entertainment makes the provisional disposition, it would mark the first time the music producer has filed a claim against the authorities' rating decision.
Meanwhile, TVXQ performed the clean version of the song at the Golden Disk Awards last week. Lyrics such as "I got you" were changed to "I chose you" and "I got you under my skin" to "I got you under my sky."
Immediately after the commission's decision came out, TVXQ fans put up angry postings on the message board of the commission's Web site (www.youth.go.kr). It's been more than two weeks since the ruling was announced and a week after it came into effect, but the fans are still leaving such messages.
"You guys say you're working for us, but how come you're forbidding us the songs and singers we love," Seo Han-ol wrote on the board.
"When we listened to the song, we didn't have the 'weird thoughts' you had. I guess different people hear it differently, but few people hear it the way you did," Kim Haeng-seon, another Web user, wrote.
At Agora, a major online discussion forum run by Daum, more than 15,959 people have signed a petition against the commission's decision.
The latest incidence has triggered heated debate over the measuring stick used for rating music. Critics point to the effectiveness of the rating as it comes out weeks, even months, after the release dates of the albums.
"TVXQ's album has sold more than 400,000 copies already. Plus, they've performed on TV many times. What's the point of the rating at this point?" an official with a record company said, refusing to be named.
In response, the commission says its bigger goal is to red flag sensational media in general.
"There are three rounds of deliberation in total. It takes at least 26 days for the rating to take effect," said an official with the commission. "We went ahead with our screening, hoping to present a social standard that can put a break on provocative materials."
But reining in the spread of the song's original versions online remains a challenge. The commission has ordered portal site operators to see if the songs rated as over-19 only are properly labeled and kept from teenagers. But one can still find their songs and music videos of the "unclean" version in the blogosphere.
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Concern about provocative material in the mass media has alerted some conservative parents. In the latest incident, singers Lee Hyo-ri and T.O.P. kissed during their performance, triggering a heated debate online. The kiss was pre-meditated, their management companies said.
Despite the ongoing controversy, the Commission on Youth Protection will have another round of talks this Thursday on some 80 new songs. If the members decide to rate some of them as harmful material for youths, another batch of CDs will soon find a new home on the red-taped shelves.
Source it:
Soompi credit: Kbites+ Joongang Daily+ asianbite
Shared by: DBSKnights
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