Radio edit
Encyclopedia
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity
, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may also be used for commercial single versions, which may be denoted as the 7" version.
earlier, common on tracks with long instrumental endings. For instance, the radio edit of 'Heroes' by David Bowie
fades in shortly before the beginning of the third verse and fades out shortly before the vocal vamping at the end of the song. However, many radio edits will also edit out verses, bridges, and interludes, such as the original single edit of "Piano Man
" by Billy Joel
which substitutes the end of the third verse for the ending of the second verse.
Some songs will be remixed heavily and feature different arrangements than the original longer versions, occasionally even being completely different recordings. A popular example of this would be "Revolution
" by The Beatles
which is a completely different recording than the version which appears on The White Album
. This also became more prevalent with the rise of the 12" record, as artists like New Order
started making songs specifically for the format. Many of the 7" mixes aimed for pop radio airplay of their songs feature very different arrangements, such as "Bizarre Love Triangle
", or even a completely different recording, such as "Temptation
".
Occasionally, very long songs do not have a radio edit, despite being as long as six or seven minutes in length. Famous examples of these include "Vicarious" (2006) by Tool
at 7 minutes and 6 seconds, "Hey Jude
" (1968) by The Beatles
at 7 minutes and 11 seconds long, "Stairway to Heaven
" (1971) by Led Zeppelin
at 8 minutes and 3 seconds, "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
at 7 minutes and 10 seconds, "One
" (1989) by Metallica
at 7 minutes and 24 seconds, and "American Pie" by Don McLean with a length of 8 minutes and 32 seconds. Occasionally, due to popular demand, the longer version of a song will be played over the shorter version, such as "Like a Rolling Stone
" by Bob Dylan
, which was released on a 7" single featuring the first two verses on side 1 and the rest of the song on side 2. Due to the popularity of the song, radio stations started playing the full version to meet their listeners' demand.
On rare occasions, a radio edit might be longer than the original album version. This may occur when the song is edited for form, such as "Miserable" by Lit, in which the radio edit adds the chorus between the first and second verse.
done to conform to decency standards imposed by government agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission
in the United States
, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in Canada
, and Ofcom
in the United Kingdom
. The offending words may be silenced, reversed, or replaced/distorted by a sound effect. Occasionally, the song may be re-recorded with different lyrics, ranging from just the replacement of one line being re-recorded, like James Blunt
's "You're Beautiful
," which replaces "fucking high" with "flying high" ("she could see from my face that I was flying high"), to the entire song be completely changed, such as D12
's Purple Hills, which replaces profanity, drug references, and other inappropriate lyrics from the original Purple Pills
. Another example of the first type (one-line replacement) is The Black Eyed Peas
song "Let's Get It Started
", whose original title was "Let's Get Retarded" but was changed to make it suitable for radio play. Sean Kingston
's Beautiful Girls
, in some radio edits, changed "You got me suicidal" to "in denial". The whole chorus of Cee-Lo Green's "Fuck You" substituted the word "Fuck" with "Forget", thus changing the title to "Forget You" on the radio edit. Radio edits may have more words edited than the "clean version", because of the stations' or agencies' standards. As well, some Radio edits may have fewer words edited than a "clean version". It all depends on how they use the words. A "dirty" radio edit preserving the offensive language but maintaining the shorter play time may be produced, which may be aimed at club play, post-watershed
radio, and non-terrestrial radio stations. Kid Rock
wrote the term "radio edit" into two of his songs, both of which are the same on radio and album versions.
On occasions when songs have been completely re-worked or the instrumental arrangements have been changed slightly, the radio edit can be labeled in print with the remixer's name (e.g. Celine Dion's 2002 single of "I'm Alive
", the radio version was referred to as the 'Humberto Gatica Radio Mix') rather than just "Radio Edit".
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may also be used for commercial single versions, which may be denoted as the 7" version.
Editing for time
Radio edits often shorten a longer song to make it more commercially viable for radio stations. The normal length for songs played on the radio is 3 to 4 minutes. Occasionally, the song will simply fade outFade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....
earlier, common on tracks with long instrumental endings. For instance, the radio edit of 'Heroes' by David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
fades in shortly before the beginning of the third verse and fades out shortly before the vocal vamping at the end of the song. However, many radio edits will also edit out verses, bridges, and interludes, such as the original single edit of "Piano Man
Piano Man (song)
"Piano Man" was Billy Joel's first major hit and his signature song. "Piano Man" was released as a single in November 1st, 1973 and has been on several albums...
" by Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
which substitutes the end of the third verse for the ending of the second verse.
Some songs will be remixed heavily and feature different arrangements than the original longer versions, occasionally even being completely different recordings. A popular example of this would be "Revolution
Revolution (song)
"Revolution" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The Beatles released two distinct arrangements of the song in 1968: a hard rock version as the B-side of the single "Hey Jude", and a slower version titled "Revolution 1" on the eponymous album The Beatles...
" by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
which is a completely different recording than the version which appears on The White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
. This also became more prevalent with the rise of the 12" record, as artists like New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
started making songs specifically for the format. Many of the 7" mixes aimed for pop radio airplay of their songs feature very different arrangements, such as "Bizarre Love Triangle
Bizarre Love Triangle
"Bizarre Love Triangle" is a single released in 1986 by the English rock band New Order. A version is included on their album Brotherhood....
", or even a completely different recording, such as "Temptation
Temptation (New Order song)
"Temptation" is a stand-alone single released by British band New Order on Factory Records. The single reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in 1982.-Original release:...
".
Occasionally, very long songs do not have a radio edit, despite being as long as six or seven minutes in length. Famous examples of these include "Vicarious" (2006) by Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
at 7 minutes and 6 seconds, "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" (1968) by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
at 7 minutes and 11 seconds long, "Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...
" (1971) by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
at 8 minutes and 3 seconds, "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. Composed of one DJ and five rappers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip-hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in...
at 7 minutes and 10 seconds, "One
One (Metallica song)
"One" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the third and final single from their fourth album ...And Justice for All. "One" was also the band's first Top 40 hit single, reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" (1989) by Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
at 7 minutes and 24 seconds, and "American Pie" by Don McLean with a length of 8 minutes and 32 seconds. Occasionally, due to popular demand, the longer version of a song will be played over the shorter version, such as "Like a Rolling Stone
Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
" by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, which was released on a 7" single featuring the first two verses on side 1 and the rest of the song on side 2. Due to the popularity of the song, radio stations started playing the full version to meet their listeners' demand.
On rare occasions, a radio edit might be longer than the original album version. This may occur when the song is edited for form, such as "Miserable" by Lit, in which the radio edit adds the chorus between the first and second verse.
Editing for content
Radio edits often come with any necessary censorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
done to conform to decency standards imposed by government agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The offending words may be silenced, reversed, or replaced/distorted by a sound effect. Occasionally, the song may be re-recorded with different lyrics, ranging from just the replacement of one line being re-recorded, like James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
's "You're Beautiful
You're Beautiful
"You're Beautiful" is a pop rock song co-written by British singer James Blunt, Sacha Skarbek, and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam . It was released as the third single from the album in 2005. In the UK and Australia the song reached number one and number two respectively...
," which replaces "fucking high" with "flying high" ("she could see from my face that I was flying high"), to the entire song be completely changed, such as D12
D12
D12, an acronym for The Dirty Dozen, is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. D12 has had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia...
's Purple Hills, which replaces profanity, drug references, and other inappropriate lyrics from the original Purple Pills
Purple Pills
"Purple Pills" is a hip hop single by D12 from their 2001 debut album Devil's Night...
. Another example of the first type (one-line replacement) is The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
song "Let's Get It Started
Let's Get It Started
"Let's Get It Started", , appears on The Black Eyed Peas' 2003 album Elephunk. It is the fourth single from the album...
", whose original title was "Let's Get Retarded" but was changed to make it suitable for radio play. Sean Kingston
Sean Kingston
Sean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
's Beautiful Girls
Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston song)
"Beautiful Girls" is a song by reggae-influenced musician Sean Kingston from his eponymous debut. The song samples Ben E. King's classic "Stand by Me" and uses digital pitch correction technology on the vocals. The song is about a boy who is suicidal over the failure of his relationship with a...
, in some radio edits, changed "You got me suicidal" to "in denial". The whole chorus of Cee-Lo Green's "Fuck You" substituted the word "Fuck" with "Forget", thus changing the title to "Forget You" on the radio edit. Radio edits may have more words edited than the "clean version", because of the stations' or agencies' standards. As well, some Radio edits may have fewer words edited than a "clean version". It all depends on how they use the words. A "dirty" radio edit preserving the offensive language but maintaining the shorter play time may be produced, which may be aimed at club play, post-watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
radio, and non-terrestrial radio stations. Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
wrote the term "radio edit" into two of his songs, both of which are the same on radio and album versions.
Other terms
Other terms for a "radio edit"- "Album edit" (Sometimes a different version than the 'radio edit')
- "LP edit"
- "Radio mix"
- "Radio version"
- "Single version" or "soundtrack version" (Typically used to reference singles taken from soundtracks, or lead singles from an album)
- Single edit (Shortened version of a single version typically)
- "Main version" (Can also be the album version but typical is the radio formatted version)
- "Main edit" (If the "main version" is the album version, "main edit" is typically the radio edit)
On occasions when songs have been completely re-worked or the instrumental arrangements have been changed slightly, the radio edit can be labeled in print with the remixer's name (e.g. Celine Dion's 2002 single of "I'm Alive
I'm Alive (Celine Dion song)
"I'm Alive" is the second hit single from Céline Dion's album A New Day Has Come, released on August 12, 2002.The song was written and produced by Kristian Lundin and Andreas Carlsson, who already worked with Céline Dion in 1999 on "That's the Way It Is." "I'm Alive" was also featured in the Stuart...
", the radio version was referred to as the 'Humberto Gatica Radio Mix') rather than just "Radio Edit".
See also
- Censorship of musicCensorship of musicCensorship of music is the practice of restricting free access to musical works. This censorship may stem from a wide variety of motivations, including moral, political, military or religious reasons. Censorship can range from the complete government-enforced legal prohibition of a musical work, to...
- Censorship on MTVCensorship on MTVCensorship on MTV has been the subject of debate for years. MTV, the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., has come under criticism for being too politically correct and sensitive, censoring too much of their programming...
- List of "songs with questionable lyrics" following the September 11, 2001 attacks
- Loudness warLoudness warThe loudness war or loudness race is a pejorative term for the apparent competition to digitally master and release recordings with increasing loudness.The phenomenon was first reported with respect to mastering practices for 7" singles...
- Parental Advisory: Explicit ContentParental AdvisoryParental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...