Friday, January 23, 2009

PTC Officially Nuts

I mean we already knew that right? But if we needed any more confirmation it comes from Billboard, and just about every newspaper in North America.

The Parents Television Council is demanding that radio stations not play Britney Spears's new single If U Seek Amy. It seems that the PTC has determined that if you say the words fast (and you've got a smut focused mind like the PTC does) it sounds as you are spelling out a naughty word:

If U See Kay Me

The PTC is telling radio stations not to broadcast the song between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. because the Council believes it would violate the Broadcast Decency Act. In the words of PTC president Tim Winter, "There is no misinterpreting the lyrics to this song, and it's certainly not about a girl named Amy. It's one thing for a song with these lyrics to be included on a CD so that fans who wish to hear it can do so, but it's an entirely different matter when this song is played over the publicly-owned airwaves, especially at a time when children are likely to be in the listening audience."

There's been no comment from Jive, the label that is releasing Britney's new CD Circus on which If U Seek Amy can be found, or from Spears's "people," but think they're grateful to the PTC for playing their part in publicizing the CD and the downloads of the song. According to the Billboard report published on Wednesday, If U Seek Amy, the track is 92 on the Billboard Pop 100 and had entered rotation on six top 40 radio stations, and had sold 107,000 copies digitally according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Note to Julius Genachowski: When you're confirmed as head of the FCC, treat any PTC complaints on this song with the respect they deserve. Remember, "sanity not censorship."

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