Wal-Mart's Hypocritical Music Policy
What do recording artists Green Day, Sheryl Crow, Nirvana, Radiohead, Pat Benatar, John Cougar Mellencamp and Tom Petty have in common? They've all had albums or songs banned or censored by superstore Wal-Mart. The same Wal-Mart which on August 31 will exclusively release the new album, The Time of Our Lives from 16-year-old writhing, gyrating, pole-dancing, near-naked-posing pop tart Miley Cyrus.
From the Walmart.com website:
..."Recordings identified with the Parental Advisory Label may contain strong language or depictions of violence, sex or substance abuse. Wal-Mart Stores, Sam's Club and Walmart.com (collectively "Wal-Mart") do not carry recordings designated with the Parental Advisory Label."
But apparently to Wal-Mart, a barely-post-pubescent Lolita act without a Parental Advisory Label is just fine. The dual-named singing sensation (still not sure what the the difference is between Miley and alter-ego Hannah Montana, but I'm not 10 either) has come under fire in the last year for her bizarrely sexually suggestive Vanity Fair photos with her dad Billy Ray Cyrus and for dancing provocatively with a stripper-like pole at the recent Teen Choice Awards. She also has a boyfriend who's old enough to drink, drive, vote and serve in the military, but too old to be romancing little girls ... no matter how old they look and/or pretend to be. 16 is 16.
To be sure, Sheryl Crow is no worse for society, or at least Wal-Mart's allegedly God-fearing customers, than Cyrus. But then again, mega-star Miley/Hannah sells a shitload more albums than Sheryl. And being the exclusive distributor? Well, you can figure out for yourself how ginormously profitable this album will be for the superstore.
When it comes to Wal-Mart's morality, apparently it's all about the Benjamin's, baby.
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Being that Wal-Mart represents child labor, sweatshops, union-busting, and censorship, it seems like a good time to stay away from such stores.
Walmart=Hypocrisy.
then the same criticism should be thrown at ABC and NBC for not airing the anti health care ads, especially after ABC had its day long pro health care infomercial
Stay tuned to faux 700 club, 24/7/365, WE DECEIVE YOU BELIEVE. Some networks only air ads that have some truth.
i have seen those fake no ads on most cable networks. They are whores when it comes to revenue.
Why are you ticked off that the lies the right tells are not shown as truth on stations other than faux? Would you explain to us dumb liberals what death panels are? Would you explain how getting rid of pre existing conditions will hurt Americans? Would you explain how ending caps on coverage will hurt Americans? Will you explain how making health insurance more affordable will hurt Americans?There are hundreds of these questions your rethuglicants cannot answer without lying,
I'm glad I don't live in your country. Land of the Free indeed . . .
We don't have to shop at Walmart.
WEEEEEEEEEEE don't.
The only hypocrisy I see here is a middle-aged man tsk-tsking a teenage girl who doesn't swear, advocate violence or appear topless on her album covers, while simultaneously tsk-tsking a corporation that won't sell albums by artists that do.
Why do you hold Miley Cyrus to a higher standard than 50 Cent?
Can't speak for the author but I hold them to the same standard, they are both talentless hacks who have their careers managed by corporations and wouldn't know real music if it jumped up and bit them.
I'm going to have to disagree you here. It's impossible to set a clear defined "morality standard" that wouldn't generate arguments about hypocrisy, and grey area, and why is this okay and this isn't. So it makes perfect sense for Wal-mart to outsource that headache to the people who make the parental advisory labels. Wal-mart has a clear policy that doesn't force their employees to have to research everything about an artist before deciding whether their work can go on its shelves. Until Miley Cyrus comes out with an album with a parental advisory sticker and Wal-mart and decides to stock it, your argument is with whoever is on that parental advisory committee and not Wal-mart. Further I believe that the stickers are rewarded on the content of the album and not how sexually suggestive an artist's live performances are. If you want Wal-mart to ban the music of artists who include sexually suggestive gestures and dancing in their live performances, well there goes virtually the entire pop, r&b, hip-hop, and rock sections.
I completely agree; my idea of inaapropriate and your idea may be different. But a Parental Advisory sticks is a Parental Advisory sticker. If your album has one; no Wal-Mart, if it doesn't you are fine. Seem simple to me, no hypocrisy there.
I have no use at all for Cyrus, her music to me is completely disposable garbage geared to manipulate kids. But I think you have a good point. The real crime here is trying to censor music in the first place, once you start doing it you inevitably start applying regional, political, religious bias. Back when all this garbage started Frank Zappa made the same point. He had a list of country and western songs about violence, infidelity, etc. that were as bad as any rock songs. None of those songs were being scrutinized by the parents groups the way rock songs were.
Miley Cyrus? Yuck. Have you ever seen her do an interview? She comes off as a self-centered spoiled brat. Not cute at all.
What kind of parent buys this crap for their kids?
Couple of years ago I bought Johnny Cash' CD at a Wal-Mart store and among other songs there was "A boy named Sue". By listening in my car I realized that the line "son of a b*tch" was deleted. I went back the next day and it took me almost an hour to get my money back. They were talking family values, and editing and that every CD is clearly labeled if it had inappropriate language. However, Johnny Cash CD was without warning and on that ground I got my money back. I am sure that while I was arguing for my right to listen to uncensored music, Johnny Cash was turning in his grave. Never again would I buy any music or movie at Wal-Mart. I don't like businesses making decision for me what shall I listen to or not.
Wal-Mart doesn't make that decision, the record label may choose to release "edited" versions without stickers, just like watching a R-movie on commercial TV. Complain to the record label not Wal-Mart.
Wallie makes the decision for you. Wallie thinks you obviouslty are too dumb to make decisions for yourself, so Wallie does it for you. Part of the moral majority putting pressure on corporations to do their censorship. It is okay for the christians to decide to boycott for their "values" but don't let the libs not shop at Whole Foods.
Bogus argument. The issue for Wal-Mart is the use/non-use of the sticker as relating to the content of the product--CD--itself and not to issues external to the content of the product. Crow etc. had product banned based on content of the product; the Cyrus situation brought up by the author is not of that kind of issue.
If Wal-Mart did apply a standard realign to artist-related material, behavior etc. as qualifying for being banned, seemingly many acts could be banned based on things like drug use, violence, lawbreaking, etc. by the artists. However since they don't have that standard, there's no way to say what details they'd apply; maybe Cyrus would be fine even if they did.
I'm appalled by goes on with Cyrus and the way these little girls are sexualized. The big bad-guy here is Billy Ray for using, or allowing to be used, his daughter in these ways. Take him on mainly; of course, managment, agents, maybe record compainies are at fault, too.
But I really, really hate flawed reasoning.
The logical error comitted by the author is a kind of "category mistake."
Very well said!! A flawed argument indeed. Yes, Cyrus should be a better behaved & minded 16 yo, and yes, its a freakin' shame that bands are banned or censored by Wal*Mart - but this is old news. Ostroy is only stirring up the nest by putting this article out. If by now the people that read Huff Po don't know that shopping at Wal*Mart is stupid and bad for the world, then this editorial isn't going to change any minds. You are preaching to the choir, buddy.
PS - Why would anyone who has a serious interest in music shop at Wal*Mart at all? Go to a good local mom & pop store or if your town has had them all run off by the big boxes, go online & shop that way - you can still buy from indie stores on line...keep 'em in business that way!
What's the difference between Cheryl Crow an Miley Cyrus? Crow is despided by every good conservative while Mily is beloved by them . It dosen't make sence, it dosen't have to. Cenorship campaigns always de-evolve very quickly to a point of absurdity. Remember the old Hays code where bellybuttons were pornographic and had to be covered? That produced those goofy looking mens swimsuits of the 30's that seemingly came up to their armpits: all to hide that nasty bellybutton Then there's the one-foot-on-the-floor requirement for filmed love scenes ( with the man fully clothed-of course) .
The difference is Crow had a CD with a Parental Adivisory sticker, Miley didn't. That is why one was carried and one wasn't.
Please spread the word: "ginormous" is not a word.
Actually, it is. Google it and you'll find articles from 2007 as well as online dictionary definitions.
Well, if the Internet said so, it must be true.
If it were me, I'd use the "Banned By Wal-Mart" thing the same way "Banned In Boston" was used: as a selling point.
When I got wind of news that Wal-Mart was planning to open stores in Russia, I warned my acquaintances there not to shop in the store.
As it was, I learned about Miley Cyrus by accident: I avoid pop music at all costs.
A lot of people would say that the market dictates, and allows Wal Mart to do such things as censoring albums, which technically is correct. The problem is that, in so many small towns across America there is no other competition. People may have to drive several hours to purchase an album, or at least the uncensored version of that album. This is a way that Wal Mart can force it's ideology down the throats of it's customers.
I'm not arguing against their right of such practices, but their decision to do this to so many people across America.
When citizens and small businesses subsidize Wal-Mart through tax breaks, I call that bribery, not competition.
ALL THINKING PEOPLE WILL STAY OUT OF WALL MART,
DO NOT SHOP THERE,
DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY,
WAL MART SUPPORTS GLEN BECK, FASCISM, AND THE LIASR AT FOZ NEWS
IT IS A
GREED DRIVEN ANTI AMERICAN ORGANIZATION
no.......a greed driven american organisation..a perfect tautology!
You have quite a way of connecting with thinking people.
The main reason I do not shop there is that they are union busters that pay their workers minimum wages. They also keep people from working full time so that they do not have to pay benefits. Wal mart workers make so little money in most areas they are forced to be subsidized by the local governments.
I was in a WalMart the other day...fact finding mission...wanted to see how many "made in USA" items I could find. Very, very few! Anyway, the clothes that sport Miley's name that *I* saw are made in Vietnam. Isn't her daddy supposed to be a real America lovin' guy? But he doesn't insist that his baby's clothes be made here in the USA? Money grubbers! Don't tell his achy breaky heart that I said that, okay? I wouldn't wanna make him cry or anything...PFFFF!
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