MTV Bleeps File Sharing Software Out Of Music Videos

from the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up dept

Thu, Oct 30th 2008 12:56pm — Mike Masnick

Reader Matthew Muro writes in to let us know of a rather insane bit of news. MTV's new video hosting site is apparently bleeping out the names of file sharing sites in Weird Al Yankovic's famous 2006 song "Don't Download This Song." The opening verse to the song goes as follows:

Once in a while maybe you will feel the urge
To break international copyright law
By downloading MP3s from file-sharing sites
Like Morpheus or Grokster or Limewire or KaZaA

Yet, in that new MTV version, the last line is "Like *BLEEP* or *BLEEP* or *BLEEP* or *BLEEP*" rather than naming the four file sharing programs. Watch it here:

You can see the original (unbleeped) video on Weird Al's own YouTube site, which (again, inexplicably) has embedding disabled, or we'd put it here for comparison purposes.

MTV's actions really have me scratching my head. Do they think that the names of file sharing programs are the equivalent of curse words? Or do they really think that, by bleeping them out, people won't be able to figure out what's in the song? Seems like yet another sign of how out of touch MTV has become from today's musically-inclined youth.

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Filed Under: file sharing, mtv, music videos, weird al yankovic

59 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:06pm

MTV == IntarWebs Censors
Misguided fools
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warren, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:06pm

MTV Bleeps File Sharing Software Out Of Music Videos
Chicken Little [MTV]: "The Sky is falling, the Sky is falling!"
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Petréa Mitchell, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:10pm

Perhaps they're trying to be ironic
It's within the realm of possibility that MTV is trying to make it funnier for an audience that already know about those sites and the associated controversy.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:10pm

"Copyrights Restrict Us From Playing This Video Outside The U.S."

So... is it okay if I use utorrent then?
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Trevor, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:15pm

It might be a joke. I thought it was pretty effing hilarious.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:25pm

I wouldn't put it past the RIAA to have offered up some sort of "incentive" (use your imagination) for doing it, just to keep anyone from "getting any ideas" from it.
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vinod, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:35pm

well - they are married to the RIAA
I'm sure they are not doing it to prevent piracy, but to appease the RIAA and other artists that believe in RIAA's cause. There is no way they can believe that blocking the words out will make any difference in how many people download pirated songs, but you can't blame their legal department to try to avoid unnecessary law suits.
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jeff, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:45pm

Download THIS song?
LOL if you want to download this song (yes, really)
Check out http://www.record-online-media.com

LOL i love weird al
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Nick Nack, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:52pm

I'd watch but..
"Copyrights Restrict Us From Playing This Video Outside The US"

Bloody brilliant!
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monkey, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:53pm

that is rather ironic, considering the fact that the song is satirical and critical of the strong arm actions the RIAA is taking against the fans of music. you would think the fat cats at Viacom would have just black listed the song.
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Jimmy The Vulcan, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:56pm

Does it occur to anyone that they may have done this for the free publicity?
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ehrichweiss, 30 Oct 2008 @ 1:57pm

Re: MTV == IntarWebs Censors
you've spelled it wrong...

eMpTyV

it's still pronounced the same
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 2:09pm

can any1 say viacom?
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Cyryl, 30 Oct 2008 @ 2:48pm

MTV has BEEN out of touch for more than a decade.
Are you kidding? MTV quit being MTV back in the 90's.

It is no longer Music Television. It should be RBTNGAFATV.

(Random Bullshit That Nobody Gives A Fuck About TV.)

The original MTV used to play music videos. For good music. Not all the SHIT they make nowadays.

Hell... MTV was ROCK.

Now it's nothing but videos about rapper morons who think far too much of themselves.

MTV can kiss my ass. They sold out YEARS ago.
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Eric the Grey, 30 Oct 2008 @ 2:55pm

Re:
When Weird Al first put this out, you could download it from his site (or was it his my space page?), which only added to the humor value.

Dunno if it's still available, but check and see.

EtG
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TriZz, 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:01pm

Retarded...
People will hear the beeps, get curious, get the unedited song and then inexplicably check out those problems to see what the hype is about...

...I guess this shows just how lost MTV has gone from it's target demographic.
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Michael, 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:04pm

MTV and its end
What is MTVs plan? To show everyday that nobody want to look strange shows in a music channel instead of good music? And that you buy CDs now because there is no good music channel any more on TV? sure, we all listen to music online but that is also because we have no other possiblity. There is no more music channel in TV with meaningful music
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:08pm

Wouldn't the beeps make it a bit more, whats the word, noticable? and those who are curious enough to find what those lyrics are, end up looking up on our favorite media, the internet. Possibly driving more attention to these sites?
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John (profile), 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:14pm

Hmm...
My information may be a bit dated, but isn't Morpheus and Kazaa avoided by "real" sharers because both are full of spyware, toolbars, and other junk?

And wasn't Grokster sued by the MPAA or RIAA? Is it even still around?

But, my point is this: why would MTV (or Viacom) want to bleep out the names of file-sharing services that were popular TWO YEARS ago? It's like bleeping out the word "Napster" from a song made in 1998.
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SteveD, 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:20pm

America-only?
Someone explain to me how this new site is going to compete with youtube if the lock it to non-US residents?
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James, 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:30pm

not new... but in this format?
MTV has always blurred brands of non-sponsors--no free rides there. Anyone think of an example where a song has had an obvious product or brand name, and did they censor it too?
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Guy One, 30 Oct 2008 @ 3:40pm

my day
Oh man... this just made my day.
Thank you Techie dirt.

Excelsior
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Murray Rothstein, 30 Oct 2008 @ 4:08pm

No way MTV did it to be funny (although it would have been).
MTV sucks and and they don't have any creativity in their tight corporate arses.
I'm sure Sumner Redstone is friends with Barbara Streisand he should ask her about the deleterious effects that can be encountered by trying to block information using this inter-web thingy.
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John Doe, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:13pm

MTV has sucked for many, many years.
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aSavage, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:24pm

Re: Hmm...
You would be correct -plus limewire is a virus pit- people use torrents,e-mule and openNap the most with openNap private servers being the safest [imho]
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HILLSFAN, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:30pm

LEAVE MTV ALONE!
I LOVE MY MTV! YOU PATHETIC NERDS NEED TO LEAVE THEM ALONE. THEY DO ALL SORT OF STUFF LIKE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO VOTE AND HELP TEENAGERS WITH PROBLEMS. THEY PLAY ALL KINDS OF GREAT MUSIC IN THERE AWSOME SHOWS. THEY ARE BETTER THEN YOU AND YOU ALL NEED TO STOP OBSESSING WITH THEM CAUSE YOUR NOT HOT!

OBAMA 08!!!!!!
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Xauri'EL, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:34pm

You know what's *really* funny about that video?

I tried to play it and got a 'copyright law forbids us from playing this video outside the US'

LOL
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Bob, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:37pm

It Part Of
It just part of the corporate protection racket, nothing more.
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PopCultureSucks, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:40pm

Re: LEAVE MTV ALONE!
^ Another mindless pop culture teenager here, I see. In case you haven't noticed, brainwashed one, MTV != (Does Not Equal) music.

Go to your TV, and look at the lineup for MTV's TV shows. See any music shows? Blocks of music videos in the morning? NO! There is NO MUSIC on MTV anymore - just shitty, generic, pathetic, scripted, copied "reality" shows.

I heard they are canceling their LAST REMAINING music TV show: TRL. HA! No more Music for "Music" Television.

Protip: Most of us don't give a shit about looking "HOT" in the pathetic state of pop culture in the US. I oppose pop culture :)

PS: Rule 31 and Rule 32. Since your a "spend hours on MySpace making my cool profile that blasts MTV music full blast" type of kid, you probably have no idea what that means, so read the Rules of the Internet (Google it!)
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 5:43pm

Obvious joke is so obvious and funny.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 6:10pm

weaksauce
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Cyryl, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:00pm

Re: LEAVE MTV ALONE!
1.) It's not YOUR MTV.
2.) It USED TO BE EVERYONES' MTV. Not just the PR playground for RAPPERS and other shit artists.
3.) It's not EETVTV. (Encourage Everyone To Vote TV.) It's FUCKING MUSIC TV. If I wanted to be encouraged to vote instead of watch/listen to music, I'd go to a political rally instead of sit on my ass at home and TRY to watch music videos.
4.) Shows? 'AWESOME'? Are you FUCKING kidding me? Once again, I need to remind you that it's MUSIC TV. Not SHOW TV. That's the whole fucking problem. WE WANT MUSIC. NOT OVER-SPONSORED, OVER-HYPED, OVER-RATED BULLSHIT.

JUST MUSIC.

5.) Hot? You believe that I think I'm 'hot' just because I'm a little pissed off at SELL-OUTS?

What? Are you FUCKING BLONDE? STFU.

But yes. Obama for the win. Even as a fellow soldier, I STILL can't vote for McCain and his crazy, war-lovin', back-talkin' ass.

...But you're STILL blonde.
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Cyryl, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:02pm

Re:
Mmm... Mnyes.

"Weaksauce."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Derek Reed (profile), 30 Oct 2008 @ 9:51pm

Did I miss the joke?
Didn't MTV just willingly let all of us download this song? and at greater cost to them than if we used one of those other services?
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elduderino, 30 Oct 2008 @ 11:06pm

I may have missed someone saying it before but perhaps mtv is simply reading a lot of tech dirt and trying to cash in on the barbara streisand effect?
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46, 31 Oct 2008 @ 3:17am

Re: LEAVE MTV ALONE!
funny/scary, you sound like Faux News fan
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46, 31 Oct 2008 @ 3:25am

what do you expect from money-hungry coke-heads? Poetry?
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Martin, 31 Oct 2008 @ 4:14am

Re: LEAVE MTV ALONE!
Obviously, you forgot your irony tags. Pretty subtle reference to the "Leave Britney alone"-video, too.
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InanimateOne, 31 Oct 2008 @ 6:21am

Re: LEAVE MTV ALONE!
You must not remember the real MTV. I remember the day it starting airing on cable television. It had a few VJ's (video jockies, not disc jockies) and showed nothing but videos and MTV News. Then they cam up with a few shows but they were still centered only around videos (i.e. Headbangers Ball and YO! MTV Raps). It was a great channel and an awesome way to stay current on new music. Then "The Real World" debuted and MTV changed forever. You can't find a video on MTV if you treid--you may get a 60 second clip of a video on TRL, which is a horrible show by the way, but thats the most you will get. MTV was forced to come up with MTV2 just so they could show videos because the regular MTV is nothing but annoying reality shows now. My wife is addicted to it so I am able to list some from memory--The Gauntlet, Road Rules, Who's Next, The Hills, Date My Mom, TRL, Making The Band, and on and on......
With all that there is no time for music. MTV was groundbreaking when it came out, and had a loyal following. Too bad that no one under 30 knows what MTV once was and, like you, they think that the current MTV "plays all kinds of great music." Not only do they not play great music, they hardly play music at all. So, per your request we will "LEAVE MTV ALONE!"
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:04am

Re: America-only?
People outside the US are on the Internet? Is that even legal?
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:06am

Re: LEAVE MTV ALONE!
This is a reference to that Briney Spears thing, isn't it?
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anon, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:24am

So this doesn't work to embed it then?
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:25am

mtv get off the air
mtv has never done anything but serve pure filth to the masses. stop complaining about them not showing your kind of filth.if you ever thought mtv air'ed great/godo music you're even further "out there". the one criteria they've always set is "commercial". if yes show else burn and diss.
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anon, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:26am

Re: So this doesn't work to embed it then?
Hmm, obviously this site just deletes HTML it doesn't like.
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Lame Bob, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:45am

Lame
oh, a thread generalizing the already lame network as if they were adding some real meaning in someones life. Certainly anyone who listens to or enjoys music at all doesn't look to MTV to show them the way. MTV is the equivalent of that poo you cant get to flush...it just keeps hanging around staining everything it touches as it whips around the mainstream toilet and smells like the devil, yet people all love it and talk about it as if its interesting...like I'm doing.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Oct 2008 @ 8:45am

Re: Re: America-only?
Don't worry. Al Gore will get them. (Or he may shut down the internets as a punishment)
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Bert, 31 Oct 2008 @ 10:13am

really?
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Bert, 31 Oct 2008 @ 10:16am

really?
So, you can't mention the file scaring sites on MTV's site, but you can everywhere else. ANyone who knows how to use internet and view mtv.com can simply do a search for the unedited version, so why bother at this point? Information is too universal to bleep anything out anymore.
And while we're at it, why not bleep mention of crack or stealing cars or robbing liquor stores? I mean, if the mere mentioning of something is equivelant to supporting it, then MTV is telling kids to do drugs and rob people.
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DaveTV, 31 Oct 2008 @ 10:38am

MTV play a Wierd Al video, "What the f***?"
What is this, "1983?" Since when does that lameass, skidmark network play videos, let alone "Weird Al" videos? What I can't figure out, is why someone was actually watching MTV at the exact moment it came on. This thread was created by the guy who misprogramed his DVR to MTV. It took me longer to type this out, than my total viewership of that crap channel in 2008.

Bottom Line: MTV could rerevolutionize TV, but no one would know. They've tarnished their rep and there is no looking back.
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nasch, 31 Oct 2008 @ 1:39pm

Re: MTV has BEEN out of touch for more than a decade.
Oh come on, don't forget Yo! MTV Raps. Or was that when they jumped the shark in your opinion? And by the way, MTV doesn't play music videos anymore. That's MTV2.
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namr, 31 Oct 2008 @ 2:32pm

tv is history FULL STOP vote obama FULL STOP
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Tony Rayo, 31 Oct 2008 @ 5:17pm

Maybe It Was Submitted This Way?
I notice no one has thought of the possibility that Weird Al *SUBMITTED* the video like this. I think that is just as possible as MTV bleeping out the words. In fact MTV has aired documentaries on piracy and copyright violation so I am putting my money on Weird Al just making fun of the corporations. In fact if Yahoo Music Videos was working, I could check there to see if it's self-censored (for anyone that wants to try at a later date, here is the link http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--35255383 ).
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Tony Rayo, 31 Oct 2008 @ 5:41pm

So much for that...
Wow I guess I was being naive... no bleeps on that site.
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Dan, 1 Nov 2008 @ 10:11am

Re: MTV == IntarWebs Censors
My guess is that the "fools" are everyone who was fooled by this into trashing MTV. Dollars gets you donuts that Wierd Al did this on purpose. It's just another way to point out how silly the RIAA is, which is the whole point of the song.
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Gina, 2 Nov 2008 @ 7:58pm

NY Times article up about this
already: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/business/media/03mtv.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2009 @ 3:27pm

Weird Al explained that MTV contacted him and told him they would not air his video if the references to the filesharing programs were not in some way removed, so he "made the creative decision to bleep them out as obnoxiously as possible, so that there would be no mistake I was being censored."[
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bob, 7 Sep 2009 @ 1:57pm

Re: Perhaps they're trying to be ironic
yeah, i think thats what they r doin it
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beliefexpand, 3 May 2015 @ 11:21pm

You may also use Allavsoft to download MTV videos or download online videos from YouTube, Vevo, Vimeo, Dailymotion etc.

Simple guide at http://www.allavsoft.com/how-to/mtv-download.html
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Kaypri, 24 Aug 2015 @ 2:32pm

MTV forced Weird Al to censor the song:
Now, everybody knows that MTV barely plays videos anymore, but they specifically refused to play the video for "Don't Download This Song" unless Al censored the names of once-popular illegal downloading applications Morpheus, Grokster, Limewire, and Kazaa (because how else would downloaders ever learn the names of such software if not from a Weird Al song?). Said Weird Al of MTV's ultimatum, "Instead of subtly removing or obscuring the words in the track, I made the creative decision to bleep them out as obnoxiously as possible, so that there would be no mistake I was being censored."
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