SafeMusic: Make the Bad Words Go Away

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.sevenfxsoftware.com/safemusic.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.sevenfxsoftware.com/safemusic.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"As a producer, a musician, and most importantly a parent I always have two things in mind; The best interest of my children and great music. Sometimes the two clash. There are some incredible songs out there that are sure to change the world or already have. Sometimes these songs can unfortunately contain one or two words that stop a child from listening to it or worse corrupting their mind. I accidently downloaded (legally) the unedited version of Jame's Blunt's You're Beautiful and when I went to play it for my daughter I was shocked with the F word. This was her favorite song from the radio, how could daddy make such a mistake. This program was my answer for situations like this."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/sm1_large.gif" /><br /><br />Perhaps an interesting application for you parents out there - do you run into this problem very often, and are you looking for a solution? Or is this a solution in search of a problem for you?

[Janak Parekh]

Gah. As a New Yorker, the concept of selectively censoring such music bothers me immensely. To me, it's not about insulating children entirely, but educating them early on. They're going to be exposed to this stuff sooner or later.

&lt;shrug>

--janak

[Jason Dunn]

As a New Yorker, the concept of selectively censoring such music bothers me immensely.

A New Yorker? How about "as a guy without children". ;-) I think things change once you become a parent (not that I know yet either!).

[leslietroyer]

I've removed explectives from songs for my wife's preschool class. It was some song from Grease. I think I used cooledit -- it was a pain but effective.

It can change the whole meaning of the song -- case in point is the James Blunt song --- It takes on a whole new meaning when you find out he's stoned and not just having a lustfull moment.

Les

[egads]

I edit my kids songs all of the time and I'll gladly give this program a try. After my kids realize that its listen to the song my way or not at all they are more than happy for me to edit the song.

My oldest son (16) is getting to where I don't edit music for him anymore, but my daughter has a few more years of editing in her life :D

I'm not a prude and in the right company I swear like a sailer. I just don't see why some people think they have to have bad words in their music...

[sundown]

See this is where I have a disconnect with the average American these days. Most people I talk with say they want their kids to hear profanity, that kids just need to be "educated" about that word being wrong, etc but it's a fact of life they should get used to. These same people (and I'm not making this up) think that kids should also be exposed to openly sexual situations in movies because "it's only human and shouldn't be shameful". Some of these people think that kids should be allowed to see x-rated movies too, same reason. I just don't get it. So you want your 5 year old to hear "f* this and f* that" and to see a gang bang with no censorship? I just can't believe people think this way. But I suppose morals are changing.

I was on a plane the other day and when we landed the 30-something couple behind me stood up to exit the plane and began having a loud conversation where every third word was "f***".

"Glad we're f***ing here, finally. F***. Where the f*** do you want to f***ing eat? I'm so f***ing hungry I could f***ing eat a f***ing big burrito. F***."

Are we all okay with normal average public conversation being like this? If not, then it's not acceptable in most situations. And if that's true, I don't want my kids hearing it.

So thanks for the note on the software. I think I'll give it a try. We like some songs that unfortunately the singer decided a few vulgarities would be cool to throw in and we have to avoid them as a result. Maybe we can listen again. And as king of my house, and for the sake of my kid, I'm allowed to censor and I don't think I'm violating his civil rights by doing it, lol.

[Chris Gohlke]

I for one would rather see software like this available for parents as an option rather than having censored mateial forced upon the rest of us.

[Janak Parekh]

A New Yorker? How about "as a guy without children". ;-) I think things change once you become a parent (not that I know yet either!).
Point taken...we'll see.

I'm not a prude and in the right company I swear like a sailer. I just don't see why some people think they have to have bad words in their music...
Well, it's the human condition. Many are attracted to such content, for one reason or another. The alternative for those that don't want to hear it, of course, is to not buy such music. When I was a kid, I was exposed to a lot of classical music. That stuff is highly educational, intensely creative and rewarding, and nary a swear word. ;)

If I was against exposure to such music (I'm not for it, per se) I personally would much rather do that than to buy such music and then censor it: a) it may change the meaning of the song; b) it still supports the artists that put out such work.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

See this is where I have a disconnect with the average American these days. Most people I talk with say they want their kids to hear profanity, that kids just need to be "educated" about that word being wrong, etc but it's a fact of life they should get used to. These same people (and I'm not making this up) think that kids should also be exposed to openly sexual situations in movies because "it's only human and shouldn't be shameful". Some of these people think that kids should be allowed to see x-rated movies too, same reason. I just don't get it. So you want your 5 year old to hear "f* this and f* that" and to see a gang bang with no censorship? I just can't believe people think this way. But I suppose morals are changing.
Hmm, you have interesting neighbors down there. ;) I live in what might be called a liberal bastion, and I don't think for a second that any of my friends or folks I interact with want (their) kids to see X-rated content.

Are we all okay with normal average public conversation being like this? If not, then it's not acceptable in most situations. And if that's true, I don't want my kids hearing it.
No, I'm not okay with it, but in a big city it's unavoidable. :( I'll do the best to instill values when (if?) I have kids, but they are going to be exposed to it. (X-rated content is a different matter; I disagree that folks are exposed to that on a regular basis.)

And as king of my house, and for the sake of my kid, I'm allowed to censor and I don't think I'm violating his civil rights by doing it, lol.
Oh, you definitely are allowed to, even if I don't agree. ;) Let's just hope the RIAA doesn't step in and say this is a DMCA violation or something. :roll:

--janak

[egads]

I'm not a prude and in the right company I swear like a sailer. I just don't see why some people think they have to have bad words in their music...
Well, it's the human condition. Many are attracted to such content, for one reason or another. The alternative for those that don't want to hear it, of course, is to not buy such music. When I was a kid, I was exposed to a lot of classical music. That stuff is highly educational, intensely creative and rewarding, and nary a swear word. ;)

If I was against exposure to such music (I'm not for it, per se) I personally would much rather do that than to buy such music and then censor it: a) it may change the meaning of the song; b) it still supports the artists that put out such work.

--janak

I agree, I would rather not buy the stuff and not support artists like that, but the problem is the songs that are on the radio sometimes are not the same on the albums or downloaded music. In the store a CD will have a label saying it has "adult content" on it, but most songs I purchase over the internet don't have that warning. So I bought the song and Napster will not do returns on songs (I tried). The only thing left to do is to edit the bad words out of the song or not let them listen to it. My kids prefer me to edit the song...

[Janak Parekh]

I agree, I would rather not buy the stuff and not support artists like that, but the problem is the songs that are on the radio sometimes are not the same on the albums or downloaded music. In the store a CD will have a label saying it has "adult content" on it, but most songs I purchase over the internet don't have that warning.
8O Really? Which store do you use? iTunes goes out of its way to mark explicit content... and so does Rhapsody. For instance, the new album from Tenacious D (actually, these guys are quite funny, but a little too uncouth) has two versions. The clean version clearly states:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/281/CleanLyricsiTunes.png

Unless expletives don't count as explicit content...? :?

So I bought the song and Napster will not do returns on songs (I tried).
A-ha, it's Napster. I'd say this is a good reason to ditch Napster. :?

--janak

[sevenfx]

Download your free copy of SafeMusic today. Take the sting out of today's music.

http://www.7fxproductions.com/software.aspx