"RIAA labeling is self-rated by the producers of the album and not a third party," (Holland 5) which means different albums are held to different standards. This leads to kids being able to access albums with explicit content on them just because the producers didn't find it offensive. The main question record companies ask is " 'Is there anything on here that will get us in trouble?'"(Beck n.pag.). To have producers regulate their own material is no better than having kids govern themselves in a classroom. Some albums are rarely looked over and just get a sticker for instance "Nearly all hip hop albums get [parental-advisory] stickers" (Willman n.pag.). The rating system has proved, without even trying, that they are biased against the hip-hop industry and that basically, any album considered under the genre of hip hop will get a hideous consumer-thwarting sticker. Although the hip-hop industry has the fastest growing fan base in America a parental advisory sticker is a horrible tag that diverts many parents and children away from this specific album. This can be very hurtful to an artist's career and is basically taking money out of their pockets. The rating system is extremely biased towards hip-hop acts and over the years has proved to have no effect on kids obtaining these albums. A prime example of this is Eminem's multi-platinum "Marshall Mathers LP." If children weren't permitted to purchase this album this album would have never sold millions of copies. If a CD must carry a sticker for explicit content then a restaurant should be required to have a rating for the quality of their food. The rating system is faulty and holds a double standard for rock albums versus hip-hop albums. Most importantly, rating music is a violation of freedom of speech because rating music is limiting an audience, which doesn't allow everyone to access the music that wants to.
             Kids are diverted from these albums because they think they...