Parental Advisory

Parental Advisory (abbreviated as PAL or PA) is a voluntary warning label placed on audio recordings in recognition of inappropriate references, such as violence, sexual content or profanity, with the intention of alerting parents of material potentially unsuitable for children. It was introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1987 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. The label was first affixed on physical 33 1/3 rpm records, compact discs and cassette tapes, and it has been included on digital listings offered by online music stores. In PAL-region territories, some video games featuring licensed music were affixed with the label in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Recordings with the Parental Advisory label are often released alongside a censored version that reduces or eliminates the objectionable material. Several retailers will distribute both versions of the product, occasionally with an increased price for the censored version, while some sellers offer the amended pressing as their main option and choose not to distribute the explicit counterpart. The label has been widely criticized as ineffective in limiting the inappropriate material to which young audiences are exposed.