June 24, 2021 Showing Guns in Music Videos: 7 Things You Need to Know
As a musician, artist or band, it makes sense that you’d want to represent your artistry in visual ways, whether that’s in your album covers or in your music videos.
Artistic expression can happen in all kinds of settings, using all different tools and props to display your music can be the perfect way to stand out and build stronger relationships with your audience. That being said, some props are much more severe than others, which might come into play when you’re considering using weapons in your music videos.
Whether you’re an independent artist making your first video or you’re an industry veteran who is branching into other genres, you may be circling ideas of using weapons to make your videos look cooler.
However, if you’re considering including guns of any kind in your music video — especially if you don’t have experience with guns — there are a few things you need to know before you get started. Here’s what you should know about showing guns in music videos.
1. Better Safe Than Sorry
The first thing to know or consider when it comes to showing guns in your music video is whether it’s truly necessary. While it might seem cool to show off firearms in your music videos, you may find upon further consideration that it’s too dangerous and encourages dangerous behavior. Even in the event that you aren’t using real firearms, you may be encouraging violence in your listeners.
2. Prop Guns
However, if you do want to use a firearm in your video, you may find that it’s much safer and more reliable to use prop guns rather than real guns in your videos. Just make sure you keep the prop guns and have methods of verifying that they’re fake especially if anyone on set has a criminal record or felony charges, as having guns can lead to legal trouble in some of those cases.
3. Safety First
Let’s say you already own firearms or for some reason need to use real guns in your music videos. It’s highly important to put safety first, especially in scenarios like this one. Make sure that none of the guns are loaded, but even with that consideration, treat every gun as if it’s loaded, just in case there’s a mistake somewhere along the way.
4. Disclaimers
Another technique you can employ is using disclaimers at the beginning of your videos explaining the safety precautions you took during the filming process. Music videos often do this when it comes to firearms and even drugs to dispute any claim of illegal activity, usually stating that the props used on set are all fake.
5. Demonetization
One thing you may want to keep in mind — if you plan to post your music videos on YouTube — is the monetization process with YouTube’s community guidelines. While your source of monetization may come from something else, you should check in with YouTube’s community guidelines to make sure your use of firearms — real or fake — won’t get your video demonetized or removed from YouTube.
6. Is It Illegal?
While you may be worried about the legality of having firearms in the video or on set, but as long as you aren’t doing anything illegal with them, you should be in the clear. There’s nothing illegal about showing guns in a music video, however, you can use guns illegally in real life.
Make sure that the guns you have are owned legally and that they aren’t being handled or possessed by people who have felony charges. You should also make sure that other illegal materials like drugs aren’t on set, and that you’re following any necessary safety precautions.
7. Specific Legal Details
Of course, we can’t tell you every detail of your legal situation — as every state, country and situation has specific laws and regulations. If you aren’t sure about any specific laws, consult with a lawyer or professional before you start filming. Ask about any necessary permits or regulations you need — as it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Showing Guns In Your Music Videos
No matter what kind of musician you are, there are rules you need to follow when it comes to showing guns in your music videos. In addition to making sure that everything is above board, you’ll likely want to check with the specific legalities of your area and the YouTube community guidelines, if you plan to use guns in your video at all.
At the end of the day, it’ll always be smarter to be safe than sorry, however, if you choose to include guns, you can stay safe while you do it, too.
Advice, Music Video tagged Artist Advice, guns, music video, violence
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