Friday, October 5, 2012

Questions of banning

Recently MOGEF announced they were reconsidering the ban of Psy's past hit "Right Now". MOGEF, the Ministry of Gender and Equality and Family, banned the song in 2010. Songs can be banned for a number of reasons, including references to alcohol, smoking, disobeying laws, and other things deemed inappropriate for young children. This has caused issues in the past for artists, as this sometimes leads to bans from KBS and other music stations and limits the ability to sell music and actively promote songs (which we know is important for idols, with the constant music programs and variety shows). Songs can also be banned after promotions have begun, which can abruptly end promotions for singers.

This has caused controversy in the past for popular artists and entertainment companies, but I wonder why these considerations are taking place now? MOGEF claims they gave the opportunity for YG to revise the ban in January of this year, but now it giving them another opportunity for a review... Of course, the easy question is, is it associated with the popularity of the "Gangnam Style"abroad, particularly in the U.S.? In other words, had "Gangnam style" only been popular in Korea, would they have reconsidered? We already know that YG's CEO Yang Hyun-suk does not agree with the strict regulations, but I also wonder... will YG submit a request for a revision, or will MOGEF just reconsider it on their own?

Also, will this affect the video uploading issue in the future? (A couple months ago MOGEF also announced they would start regulating/censoring video uploading onto websites) YG said that regulating music videos posted on sites like YouTube could prevent the future opportunities like "Gangnam Style" for global success.


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