In the last 10 years or so, new forms of music delivery such as music clips streamed by bands from their websites (and recently MySpace), short film platforms and internet performances have been covered by the music press and other media. In August 2005, the video upload platform, YouTube, went on-line. Within a short time, music videos from all over the world, both contemporary and historic, were available at the click of a mouse. Furthermore, YouTube’s “embedding” function allowed music videos to be integrated into other websites, creating new avenues for clips to be presented. At the same time, the immediate and unlimited availability of clips throughout the Net present a major challenge to monitoring and regulating content with regard to suitability for young people as well as racial or religious discrimination.

Important Bands/Developments:

Germany:

AGGRO Berlin: Artists recording for Berlin Hip-Hop labels such as Fler, B-Tight, Bushido and Sido are constant targets for censorship by the BPjM. These rappers leave no sexist, homophobic, racist or quasi-pornographic word unspoken. Censorship as sales promotion? 1
The “Weihnachtssong”(Christmas Song) by Sido comes from the blacklisted CD, Aggro Ansage #3 (Aggro Anouncement #3), yet appears on the commercial DVD, Aggro On Tour 1 which carries an FSK rating of 16 or over. (VIDEO A, 2)

G-Hot: The song, “Keine Tolerenz” (No Tolerance) by the former AGGRO-Berlin rapper, G-Hot, provoked a debate in mid-2007 about the suitability of rap lyrics dealing with homophobia, and discrimination in general. Some called for censorship 3 and others
developed Hip-Hop projects that tried to counter anti-gay and racist attitudes with more enlightened lyrics. 4 G-Hot himself, withdrew his song, which was produced (with accompanying video) exclusively for the Internet. (Presented here in one of the recent fan videos, which uses the song as the soundtrack, VIDEO B) G-Hot then made a video apology which he posted on-line. VIDEO C

Atari Teenage Riot: Their 1997 album, Future Of War was blacklisted in 2002. (5, 6, VIDEO D, E)

Hungary:

Ganxsta Zolee és a Kartell (Gangsta Zolee and the Cartel): Some gansta rap videos were attracting the attention of the Hungarian broadcast regulating authority, ORTT - “Vannak percek” (There Are Minutes) was subjected to broadcast restrictions for showing scenes of violence and drug use. VIDEO F

Shane 54 and DJ Junior featuring Michelle Wild: In spite of on-screen blocking (pixelating) of visible primary and secondary genitalia, the clip, “69“, was banned from broadcast under paragraph 5 (1) (visual presentation of material offensive to religion and religious faith liable to liable to provoke public reaction) of the Hungarian broadcast regulations. VIDEO G
Tankcsapda (Tank Trap): The video from “Nem kell semmi” (I Need Nothing) was subject to broadcast restrictions as unsuitable for young audiences, due to strong language in the lyrics and a morally objectionable storyline. VIDEO H

Hollywoodoo: A scene from the film, Taxidermia, which used their song “Erdo”, contained Communist insignia, whose presentation was subject to legal restrictions. The music clip, uses similar film material which does not display the offending symbols VIDEO I

Sickratman: Miklós Paizs assumes his Sickratman persona specifically to call attention to various taboos. His song, “Buzi-e vagy”, (Are You Gay) catered to controversy, “Nesze huelye paraszt” (Here Goes You Moron) (VIDEO J, K) was ignored by VIVA, probably because Sickratman’s image did not fit with their youth oriented broadcast profile. His reading, on Radio Budapest, of the rap lyrics by “Balra át”(To The Left), calling for acts of violence towards right wing journalists and police, led to a libel suit which Paizs lost. 7

Right Wing Extremist Bands: The clip of Hungarian skinhead band, Divizio 88, was shown at the NoRoma exhibit at the Open Society Archive/Budapest during the Venice Film Festival in order to call attention to the free availability of racist content on the Internet. VIDEO L In the meantime, platforms such as YouTube have taken action to restrict access to such material. 8