I'm not a fan of commercial FM radio. From the endless promotions, the same five songs in constant rotation and the handpicking of what gets played from a corporate headquarters.
More frustrating is that radio stations are the music police, deciding what you hear down to the words.
I would believe that, except this week I heard the discrepancy in a blatant way.
Rhianna came on the radio with her song, "S&M." The lyric that played with "Sex in the air / I don't care -- I like the smell of it."
That's fine with me; I don't mind a bit.
OK, cool.
But when the next track came on, I was frustrated.
Bruno Mars' "The Lazy Song" came up, and this line played: "Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X, find a really nice girl, have some really nice sex."
Except on the Clear Channel version, the word "sex" in the Bruno Mars song was removed. "Have some really nice..."What gives? Why is "sex" OK for two artists, but not the third? I really hate hypocrisy and I hate inconsistency. Make a plan and stick to it -- is that too much to ask?
Does Clear Channel censor the word "sex" in George Michael's "I Want Your Sex"? Nope. It's on a whim.
As for blaming the record companies, let's break it down. Rihanna is signed to Def Jam (EMI). Katy Perry is signed to Capitol (EMI). Bruno Mars is signed to Atlantic/Elektra (Warner). So there may be some possibility that the labels are to blame, but about a month ago, the radio was playing a censored version of "S&M." So the station clearly had both version available to them, and chose one over the other.
I know it's petty, but it's also unfair to the artist and the listener. This kind of nonsense is just one more nail in FM radio's coffin.
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