Music Censorship Pros And Cons

Throughout the years, music has evolved and transformed in many ways. However, there are restrictions in today’s music, otherwise known as, censorships. A crisis has emerged concerning the issue of censorship. This argument consists of two possible stances: one, supporting the continuation of censorship, and two, eliminating the status quo of censorships in the music industry. There have been countless debates and arguments regarding the issues of censorship ever since the U.S. Congress passed the Radio Act in 1927 (The History). The time has arrived for censorship to be brought to an end. The government should release their grip on the censorship of music for the following reasons: it obstructs the public’s freedom of choice, it

It may be hard for a kid to understand why his parents didn’t want him or her listening to Pac or Biggie’s lyrics, but as their actions on TV and in music videos displayed the same notions, their fear only increased. For both artists, they had videos displaying women with nearly nothing on, smoking, drinking and carrying weapons, but kids people liked it. That’s why both of these artists are known as the best of all time. What they didn’t see though was the rising amount of disrespect towards women, increase in drug sales and an enormous increase in gun violence during this time. This is proven by Lindsay John, “The endemic of violence in the black community can be directly traced back to the whole irresponsible images of black masculinity which is fed to us through music.” (174) Along with the videos, they had concerts that displayed rash and harsh comments towards not only whites but also law enforcement. Like in this lyric by Tupac:

     The Parents Music Resource Center and other censorship groups became a thorn in the side of free speech when many parents (like Tipper Gore) were outraged and disgusted by this new music known as “rap.” Censorship organizations demand that these new performers like Ice-T and NWA become banned from the radio and their music be labeled as indecent and explicit in order to protect America’s Youth from listening to this so-called “filth.” Rap has since been the biggest target for censorship, with groups going as far as saying that, “there has been a marked increase in explicit violence and misogyny in popular music, and it stands to reason that exposure to such hate filled lyrics has had a effect on kids’ attitudes, assumptions, decisions, and behavior” (Senate subcommittee…). This is a crazy assumption with no facts to back it up. According to Vincent Shiraldi, the executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, “There has been a 30

Censorship in music has been a major problem plaguing America since the early nineteen forties. It came to a head during the nineteen sixties with the Vietnam War and the hippie movement. During the nineteen seventies and eighties heavy metal and hard rock were getting the brunt of the censorship heat. Now in the nineteen nineties the major focus of censorship is rap; primarily gangster rap. Some of the main factors of music in general that cause legal ramifications are sexual content, suggestive violence and obscene language. Censorship is an attack against our first amendment right guaranteeing the freedom of speech. However if a song or album is deemed obscene the first amendment does not protect this.

five year old kid is cursing at them or trying to fight back at them.

There's always an audience out there for any type of music; however, when it comes to paying for the music that people love, the majority would rather find it on the internet for free rather than have to spend actual money on Itunes or buy a CD. With the high prices of buying music, more and more people would rather turn to piracy or streaming rather than purchasing digital downloads or physical CDs. Before I even start to talk, yes, it is illegal to pirate music, and, yes, no one should do it. I'm only making the argument that people pirate music because of how expensive music is. If people don't have money to throw around, they're not going to spend it on music when they could get it for free. For a high school student without a job, that's a lot of money to spend on music; I'd much rather listen to the radio or stream some songs on Youtube rather than

In today's society, all types of music artists are expressing their views, opinions and feelings in their songs about what they see and what they know. This is on of the great things about this country, the freedom to express yourself. It is not fair, nor is it constitutional that music should be censored in anyway. It is not only rap music trying to be censored it is in all types of music. They are taking away their rights and it isn't fair. As reported in the New York Times. "Wall-Mart CD standards are Changing Pop Music", Wal-Mart and other large department stores sell CD's by your favorite artists which are not what your favorite artists originally created. Some retailers refuse to carry CDs with "Parental

The tall, lanky fifteen-year-old ambled slowly up to the counter and tossed his music selection toward the clerk. The salesman began to ring the sale up in his routine manner, but just then something caught his eye. It was a small black sticker on the corner of the CD. This sticker plainly read "explicit lyrics." As the teenager fumbled through his pockets searching for a method of payment, the clerk gave him a questioning glance. "Could I see some identification please?" The clerk's voice cut through the silence like a knife through butter. Immediately the boy's face went from something of a blank stare to a frown. "I'm sorry this particular CD is not available to minors," the clerk apologetically stated. "Yeah

Musical censorship is incredibly important in certain venues and environments. However, any form of overarching censorship towards all musicians in all forms is not needed and potentially harmful. It is true that music can be hurtful, inappropriate, and racist but if the edges of normal and safety aren’t pushed, than society will never grow.

It is understandable to have mixed feelings when pondering music censorship. On the one side, the First Amendment supports freedom of speech and the values that this country was built upon. The other argument, though, is that obscene music could potentially be a factor in raised violence, teen pregnancy, etc. Therefore, I agree that the right answer is to meet in the middle, where the government is not able to dictate the type of music being produced, but the option to listen to music without explicit content is available. One point I would like to mention is that I, personally, believe private sectors (Walmart, radio stations, etc.) should have the right to censor. They are just as individualized as every other American, and their right to

There are many pros to censorship. It is a useful tool that betters society by limiting the access to information and ideas.

     Why is it that when a person that listens to music that may promote violence and contains “objectionable” lyrics does a bad thing, families are quick to point out that it was external materials such as the music that influenced the person to do it?

Music is an expressive, vivid form of art. The influence of music has a huge impact with every age group in the world. When people think of music they automatically think of how it makes them feel which most of the time is good.They don’t comprehend the provocative lyrics or what the song’s meaning really is. People have become used to this insulting and offensive language found on just about any song. Every song being released today contains some sort of graphical, sexual, or explicit lyric. Today’s graphic music encourages violence, degradation of women , and influences young children negatively.

Alexander, you touch on some very valid points such as the value of expression. It is true that the meaning of a song can de drastically changed when censored; however, the artist’s ability to freely express is retained as long as legality is retained. This is why I believe that there is a distinction to be made between government and private censorship. A prominent component to the music censorship debate is liberty (freedom of speech). Those who are against censorship are often supporters of freedom, for the privilege to create music and lyrics without restrictions is a result of the first amendment. Therefore, it is rational to allow businesses freedom in making decisions that reflect their values and beliefs, because they, just as artists,

Music gives an intense type of expression that at its most essential level stimulates while containing the ability to bring about unrests - both social and political. Music's intrinsic force panics a few individuals who fear the effective potential to shape demeanors and convictions. The banning of music sets a perilous point of reference for the control of different types of expression - with unsafe results for a free society. Why is music censored? Variables might incorporate conflicting good values, racial inspirations, generational worth crevices, and trepidation.