Will Warning-Sticker Shock Lead to Ratings System?

If you’re under 18, you better stock up on all your favorite Guns N’ Roses and LL Cool J. albums. Fast.

Record industry lobbyists have been hastily mounting a counterattack against a flood of legislative proposals that would put warning stickers on albums or preventing sales of “offensive” albums to under-18 rock fans. (See censorship story, page 69)

But while record companies are trying to kill these legislative offensives, some of the music industry’s other key players--retailers and record store owners--are coming out in favor of an age-bracket rating system similar to the X-R-PG categories used in the movie industry.

“I’d like to see the record labels or some third-party organization get together and form a Motion Picture Assn. of America-type organization which could design a uniform sticker, labeling certain product as being X or R or PG,” said Mark Siegel, executive vice president of Shamrock Holdings Inc., which owns the California-based Music Plus chain and Sound Warehouse, which operates 134 stores in mid-America and the South.

“I think the record companies are in the ideal situation to set up a ratings bureau which could give us a self-regulated system, like the film industry, instead of having so much confusion and debate over the standards that exist today.”

This kind of proposal drives industry moguls crazy, especially since they have fought an MPAA-type rating system for years, deeming it unworkable. As National Assn. of Recording Arts & Sciences chief Mike Greene puts it: “I think it’s ludicrous to compare motion pictures to albums--you just can’t apply MPAA-style criteria to music. It’s a completely different art form. These retail guys are just protecting their (butts).”

Still, it’s no wonder why even a progressive chain like Music Plus wants a coherent rating system. If any of the legislative bills pass, it’s the record store managers and clerks--not the record execs or recording artists--who’ll take the heat (and either go to jail for 90 days or be fined up to $300).

“These bills have scared the (expletive) out of us,” said one top chain-store exec who asked to remain anonymous. “They are an absolute nightmare for a retailer. You can’t listen to 700 new albums every month and make an intelligent decision about what a concerned parent--or some right-wing kook--might find offensive. To play it safe, you’d have to sticker every album. Most big chains are going to be very slow in ordering new albums because they’re going to want to wait and see if a problem develops or not.”

Record labels currently place small “parental advisory” stickers on potentially objectionable albums, but policies and stickers vary with each label, who have so far only stickered the most blatantly offensive releases. None of the stickers remotely resemble the warning sticker described in Pennsylvania’s proposed bill, which would require record companies to warn consumers about lyrics advocating “bestiality,” “incest” and “morbid violence,” even if the song merely discussed drug or alcohol use.

“I think the record companies have been ducking the problem and putting the burden on us,” said Siegel. “I would agree that the (proposed Pennsylvania) sticker goes too far. But it would be appropriate to have a sticker that could be more easily noticed by clerks in the store.”

Many retailers have already instituted measures aimed at calming community fears. Siegel said his Sound Warehouse chain--which has stores in 30 cities, including Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and Miami--doesn’t sell records with warning stickers to under-17 pop fans. Plans to adopt a similar policy at Music Plus stores is currently under discussion. Siegel said that his stores continue to carry a wide variety of rap and metal records, but some potentially objectionable records are kept behind the counter, available only upon request.

Will stickers--or 18-and-under purchase laws--have a chilling effect on artistic expression? Will record companies, as film companies regularly do now, start editing lyrics to get a prized PG-rating?

“Our social climate has always swung back and forth between free expression to more restrictive views of art and in some ways we may be moving from the freedom of the ‘70s and ‘80s back to the ‘50s,” said Siegel. “But I don’t think this will hinder the flow of creativity--or sales. If anything, this controversy may inspire more artists to deal with issues that push the edge of the social fabric.”