On September 1st, The Recording Industry Association of America releases their revised guidelines for parental-advisory labels. The new guidelines will go into effect on October 1st and include provisions for parental-advisory notices to accompany advertisements for CD's that contain objectionable material as well as warnings to be Posted by online CD retailers. 

The history of warning labels go back to 1985 when the recording industry adopted the practice after coming under fire from Congress and the PMRC (the special interest watchdog group headed by potential first lady Tipper Gore). 

The new guidelines will include the following:

"Suggested labeling criteria include: context of words or phrases that parents might find offensive; context in which the artist may be performing the material; varying interpretations of the material; depictions of violence, sex or substance abuse; and applications to single track releases as well as full-length albums.

RIAA policy regarding use of the �Parental Advisory Logo� in consumer advertising. The RIAA has developed voluntary marketing and advertising standards that aim to ensure better communication with retailers and the public that a recording contains explicit content. It is the goal of these standards to ensure that consumers are (1) able to expect uniformity regarding the application of the Parental Advisory Label when making purchasing decisions and (2) be consistently informed when a recording being advertised contains explicit content."

RIAA policy regarding notice of the �Parental Advisory Logo� for Internet-based (or non-physical distribution) sales and promotions. This policy is intended to provide guidance for on-line retailers and sellers of music as well as provide uniformity for consumers. It is understood that in most cases, the on-line sellers of music are not affiliated with the record company and therefore will make their own decisions with regard to this policy. But, record retailers have been important and conscientious partners in informing parents about the Parental Advisory Label and it is important to continue to work together. This voluntary guideline is applicable to all on-line music retail sites."

"Parents, not the government, should help choose music for their children," said Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA. "�The recording industry takes seriously our responsibility to help parents identify music with explicit lyrics. We believe that not all music is right for all ages and our Parental Advisory Label was created for just that reason."

To further that objective the RIAA will review the parental notification guidelines annually. 

According to the RIAA web site only a small percentage of CD's include these advisory labels. They give the following example on their FAQ page: 

"Virtually every sound recording to come under public scrutiny has featured a Parental Advisory Label. The fact is, these recordings account for a fraction of the music being produced. For example, in an average record retail store with 110,000 individual album titles, approximately 500 might carry the Parental Advisory Label. That�s less than of one percent of the store�s total inventory."

The full text of the new revisions to the guidelines can be found by clicking here. 

Need More Information on Parental Notification Programs: To help explain what the new guidelines and rating system includes the RIAA has developed a new web site with other entertainment industry organizations at www.parentalguide.org.