One complaint seems to be of which songs are defined as explicit? Does it have to be an all or nothing kind of thing? I see... however I for one do not like to be spoken I have my own voice thank you very much! and I don't want anyone simply agreeing because I say it. I want to be agreed with because I made a good point. Really you can sacrifice family friendly for the sake of one song you can listen to all you want on youtube?
I would rather have the songs removed or separated than censored. I would rather hear content in its original form, how the artist intended it to heard; than some watered down version than degrades the meaning and impact of the material. Besides, most of the songs are original content from hobbyist music makers on youtube. Getting censored versions for all of these songs would be extremely difficult or impossible, as the artists very well don't have censored versions available.
See this is what raises my concern, Does it have to be an al or nothing type thing? So do I, usually I prefere it it can really add meaning to a messege. That doesn't mean it absolutley has to be on a family friendly site. At least what I hope to be.
I think we should leave the songs on it doesn't really have to be a family friendly site people hear explicit language all the time in songs or on tv. in reality any younger user probably has already heard explicit language and this wont change much at all.
Sure no site has to, but I like the idea of familily friendly. My Little Pony is a childrens show after all. I like to think of EP as a friendly place where anypony is welcome and no one has to worry about being offended... explicit offends some. It does change, I have seen and heard disgusting things, that doens't mean I want to be exposed to them some more when I am trying to enjoy myself!
If we are keeping it family friendly, I think that it should be allowed if it has a few swear words in the lyrics. However, if the subject is NSFW, then I don't think that it should be allowed. Although this probably already is the rule.
I don't understand your All or Nothing mentality. A few swear words is for the 13-17 area. Swear Words that are all over the place like One Trick Pony or I Need That are all that are affected. I don't see what the big deal is with that.
After searching the internet, I've found out that excessive swearing generally falls under the 16+ category, not 18+. I'm not sure if this changes anything.
I like this. A similar thought crossed my mind earlier. make the more explicit songs request only, so if someone doesn't want to hear them, they don't have to. If it's possible.
In America, films are rated based on: Language, Suggestive Themes, and Violence. You can have no suggestive themes and almost no violence and still get an R (18+ for you Brits out there) rating because of the sheer amount of language and stuff in it. Songs that have swear words in every sentence are considered explicit and 18+ here.
I voted to keep the songs (actually, my vote brought the "Keep!" option one vote ahead of "Get It Offa Here!" option). My reasoning has nothing to do with whether I like the songs. I don't really care about those. I voted to keep the songs because I prefer there to be only a controlled amount of censorship on the site. At this point in time, the forum regulars don't go around cussing and posting inappropriate material. The site is fairly family friendly (awesome accidental alliteration!). though some topics may require a mind capable of comprehending adult undertones. I'm not a big censorship guy, although I'm for family-friendly content. I think that if you open yourself up to a wide range of material (in this case, Brony music), you should expect to receive content that will and will not meet your approval. By navigating to the radio here on EP, or searching the internet on Google, or even watching television, that's exactly what you do. I mentioned television because, even though there are restrictions in America that limit what many channels can air, LOTS of channels still air good, quality programs that nonetheless contain the aforementioned content around which this debate has formed. Some channels on television air none of that material, others air some, filtered and selected for its worth, and others simply air the content unaltered. However, in television, just like on the internet, one can block most undesirable content. If a user does not like the songs played on the radio, they are under no obligation to listen to them. They can even turn off the music temporarily, or permanently and just enjoy the Radio Chat. If possible, it would be nice if the Radio could be set up so as to let one of those disapproving listeners when a controversial song is coming up, perhaps with both a visual and auditory disclaimer ("Listener Discretion is Advised"). TL;DR: Everypony Radio should air the content, but should be up-front with their listeners, offering disclaimers. Despite my opinion, I stand by the staff's decision.
One of our many ideas was to add disclaimers to the site. But it goes against our very rules we have set in place, and some users have called us hypocritical for allowing the songs when they can't swear or post clop or say anything about clop, etc. We may have disclaimers for 17 and below content, but we really don't want to allow 18+ content here at all.
I can see how you would say the content of the songs goes against the rules, but it isn't necessarily hypocritical. Music on a radio is simply different than posts on a forum. A user who makes a stink about censoring posts but not music, and cites hypocrisy as his reason has, in my opinion, lost sight of the issue. Whether it's hypocritical may not be as important as whether it's right. As I said before, I may have my opinion, but I will be happy with whatever the staff decides. Well, clearly that "we" refers to a portion, but not the whole, of the users on the site, even if the staff are united in their opinions.
Your input has been eye-opening, Dilly. I appreciate your input! I'll put this in the staff right away!
