music censorship Essay

As well as music, The Beatles made a lot of influence is society. They challenged the rules in a way no one had done before—they broke the boundaries between what was normal and acceptable and what was not. Everybody did the same things, and acted by the same standards. At the time, for men in society, wearing long hair wasn’t very common and totally acceptable. But The Beatles changed that perspective in society, managing to make the long hair style in men very fashionable and conventional, as well as their taste in clothe—even though they were constantly criticized. All though the public sometimes criticized their freedom of speech regarding style, the Beatles opened up their own store, the Apple Boutique, in London. They also made available the possibility of buying

Others believe that music should not be censored because it would infringe on the artist’s right to freedom of speech, but music containing explicit lyrics should be criticized for their negative content. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas delivered a speech to the City Club of Cleveland. In his speech he discusses how music has a major affect on youth, and how crimes among teenagers have increased greatly, since music with explicit lyrics have been out on the market. He also expresses that music should not be censored, because the artist have the right to say what they want in their lyrics, but society also had the right to criticize the explicit lyrics in their music. (1-9) The right to freedom of speech is given to all people under the bill of rights. If people weren’t allowed to speak what they felt this country would not be where it is today.

This amendment gives people the right to voice their opinion and speak out in what they do and do not believe in and gives them the right to express themselves. Expression equals art and there is no question that music is an art form. The act of censoring music is the same as if we told Picasso what colors he could or could not use.

Everyone, Americans and Europeans alike, have heard-of, if not grown off of, a generation and culture started by an ensemble of four shaggy-haired Liverpool musicians that the world went mad over; no one can deny that no greater event impacted today's pop culture than "Beatlemania". But not everyone has heard the story behind the Beatles, who were they? How did they become the band and how did they make it big? What's the story of their struggle?

Musicians are protected under the First Amendment equally as any citizen in the United States of America. They deserve the same basic human rights we all practice, "however the freedom of expression has special relevance for musicians (Hald 1 of 8). "This offers a special protection of musicians against arbitrary censorship and persecution" (Hald 1 of 8). Not only does censorship of music threaten the freedom of speech, but it also threatens a musician's right to promote their work through free enterprise. "Musicians have the freedom to play music in public or private domains, give concerts, and release CDs" (Hald 1-2 of 8). Some concert

Censorship has long been an issue in Rock and Roll music. Although our American society celebrates “classic” rock that emerged in the 60’s and 70’s, today, artists such as: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Doors, The Sex Pistols, and Bob Dylan were harshly judged for their music and image they projected because some members of society feared they were too suggestive, or just completely inappropriate. These rebellious artists fought against their music being censored in the best ways for their bands.

Artist are protected through the first amendment to express their feelings through the art of music. They use their songs to get an issue out to the world, to tell about something personal, for entertainment, to relate to the world, or to make a statement. Censoring the music is discrimination against the emotion the artist felt in their song. It’s like taking the first amendment away from the artist and listeners.The government can't limit expression just because of any listener, or a community is offended by the content and characters of the song. We have a choice of what we listen to. We aren’t forced to listen to anything. If you feel a certain genre of music has too rated for you or children, don’t play it. We have a choice. We have a choice. We as Americans have a

“Numerous studies indicate that a preference for heavy metal music may be a significant marker for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risk, sex-role stereotyping, or risk-taking behaviors during adolescence” (http://www.aap.org/policy/01219.html). This statement, and others like it, has been used as a hypothesis as to why the students opened fire killing 13 and wounding 23 at Columbine. The explicit lyrics have been thought to motivate teenagers into committing acts of violence. Take, for example, the lyrics from a band named Drowning Pool, “Push me again, this is the end, skin against skin, blood and bone, you're all by yourself, but you're not alone, you wanted in, now you're here, driven by hate consumed by fear, let the bodies hit the floor” (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/drowningpool/bodies.html). This song is titled Bodies and speaks out about committing murder because of alienation. All teenagers feel these feelings at some point while they are growing up. While most teenagers can look to someone or something to get them through this difficult time, some find release in music. If they are exposed to these types of lyrics, without any rationality, the teenagers can find themselves in

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.

The Beatles started as an English skiffle group in the late 1950s. By the time they reached their peak popularity, the term “Beatlemania” was coined to explain the frenzied obsession with the group. A former associate editor from Rolling Stone drew a comparison between the Beatles and Picasso, calling them “artists that broke through their time period to come up with something that was unique and original.” Throughout their discography, the Beatles have time and time again released music that both broke musical trends and engrossed the masses. They have held an “unprecedented top five spots on the

The term “rhythm and blues” was coined in 1947 by a white man named Jerry Wexler who was a reporter, editor, and writer for Billboard Magazine. The record

Others believe that the music should not be on the market for the public to access at all. Many believe that censorship should not be allowed at all because it

Magazines can do the same things and on the Internet, you are allowed to post almost anything you want. Yet you rarely find any restrictions on these forms of expressions. Books can depict things like drugs, sex, violence, hate, and have swear words, yet books are not banned in stores or censored. To me, music is the same thing as a book. Artists have the same right as an author to sing what they want and not have to suffer by having their material disallowed. The Rolling Stones released a song, ?Can?t Get No Satisfaction,? which was never played on many stations in the early 1970?s because it depicted sexual actions, yet at the same time there were magazines like Playboy and books that could have been about sex that did not receive the same attention. Music is like any book because it can talk about any subject in any way they want, which follows the right of freedom of speech. I also raise the question concerning the right to organize and have parades. Artists are being banned and led into oblivion because of swear words yet we see Neo Nazi and KKK parades. They go around holding posters with slurs and insults and screaming offensive things. Yet, these things happen often and nothing is done to try to stop them or ban them. The reason is because they have the right to do this which is stated in the Constitution have the right to express what they want without being persecuted or punished. If these events are allowed to happen then why

Following the turbulent recording sessions for The Beatles and Let It Be, longtime producer George Martin was through with the Beatles. He eventually agreed to work with them again after Paul McCartney pleaded with him, but only on the condition that Martin would be in complete control in the studio, just like in the old days (Lifton). The producer would later describe Abbey Road as a “happy record… because everybody thought it was going to be the last” (Jones). Abbey Road marked the band 's going back to working together more like they used to, but as the people they had now become in 1969; however, like the band themselves coming back together, the songs on Abbey Road didn’t immediately fall into place; they were the product of much idiosyncratic Beatles brainstorming—an activity one part music hall “comedy improv” (Jones),

Before the Beatles, music and television were heavily censored. There was still segregation in many parts of the country, and rock and roll music was in its infancy. The Beatles admired their mentor Bob Dylan and were little known in America. The critics called them the “ Yeah, Yeah, Yeah boys”(Hill) to mock them and make fun of them. The Beatles got no more than decent reviews from other countries they played for. Just before the Beatles came to America, critics and other professionals were not impressed. They believed the Beatles would only last a few months before turning into another Failed band. Newsweek magazine reported in late 1963 that the Beatles music was “A near disaster” and their