The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) is an organization that was formed in the United States in 1985. It was established by a group of parents, including Tipper Gore, wife of former vice president Al Gore, with the aim of addressing concerns about explicit and potentially offensive content in music, particularly in relation to its impact on children.
The PMRC’s primary goal was to advocate for a system of voluntary warning labels on music albums. The organization believed that such labels would assist parents in better understanding the content of the music their children were exposed to and allow them to make informed decisions regarding their consumption.
The PMRC proposed a rating system consisting of four levels: "E" for explicit content, "O" for occult themes, "S" for sexual references, and "V" for violent themes. They recommended the use of these labels on albums that contained any of the aforementioned elements, aiming to provide parents with a visual indicator of the content within the recording.
The organization gained substantial attention and media coverage, leading to public hearings before the United States Congress in 1985. While their proposed rating system was not ultimately implemented, the hearings sparked wider discussions about censorship, artistic freedom, and the role of parents in regulating their children's media consumption.
Today, the PMRC's legacy can be seen in the creation of the voluntary content warning labels found on many music albums, as well as in the ongoing debates surrounding music censorship and parental responsibility.
