Are the BBFC now age restricting albums (UK)?
 

I was looking through new releases when it came to my attention that one of them contains the BBFC's "18" symbol on its cover. To my knowledge, the BBFC only rate video-related content, so I find it weird that the 18 symbol is on the front of this CD:

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Does anybody know why this is the case? Does the album contain an enhanced video section with adult content, have they recently changed their guidelines to cover new music releases (every other new release seems to be BBFC symbol-free), or is it just the artist trying to look cooler by including the symbol (like the Parental Advisory symbol, which is very common on rap/hip-hop releases)? It just seems a little weird since I've never seen an age restricted album before (the Parental Advisory symbol is voluntary and not the same as restricted, since it can't be enforced). The BBFC own the rights to their symbols so any unauthorised use would be both risky and pointless, since retailers in Britain may assume it's enforceable even if it isn't, plus online downloads are currently BBFC-excempt.

It could be a version of the album that has a DVD with music videos. They would have to rate it as video if there was a bonus video with something warranting a rating.

It could even be part of the cover artwork, now that I'm looking at it... is that possible?

Yeah, usually it would only be the DVD version containing the rating. Even then, I thought most music and documentary videos are generally excempt from classification, with exceptions. I own a DVD version of Oasis's Definitely Maybe and Green Day's International Supervideos, and both have "E" on them, even though some songs contain explicit lyrics. Some live DVDs are given a 15 rating, though some rap content may warrant a higher rating (I don't listen to much so I wouldn't know for sure).

In my opinion the BBFC's nanny state model seems very outdated, sort of the thing that was adopted in the 80s and never taken off the books, even though it's difficult to enforce in the digital age. Unfortunately, the current government seems to want its powers increased rather than reduced, which I thinks a stupid decision, especially since they're a centre-right party (centre right people love the economy to thrive, right?). If I was the British prime minister, I'd be replacing the BBFC with a non-enforceable voluntary guidance system.