Music Censorship Essay

(“Dictionary”) Different genres relate to different groups of people. People often use music as entertainment. This entertainment is composed of an artist’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions written into words. Music should be not censored because of the freedom of speech every citizen is guaranteed.

The United States of America seems to be protected by a very important historical document called the Constitution. Despite the fact that it was written and signed many years ago, the American people and their leaders still have faith in the Constitution. One of the major statements of the Constitution is the First Amendment, freedom of speech. Although it is difficult to decide what is offensive and what is not, it is clear to see that songs of rape, violence, bigotry, and songs containing four letter words are completely unnecessary for susceptible minds to acknowledge. It is reasonable to say that more people listen to music everyday and for that reason, music tends to be more influential. The American

Not one thing in this world is so perfect to the point in which someone would not find something offensive about it. I mean itís really bad when Wal-mart decides that Eminemís cds are so controversial and vulgar that even the censored versions canít be sold there.

Anthony Chiavaroli wrote the essay that I chose to discuss in my response paper about music censorship. In Anthony’s argument he makes the point that music censorship has been appropriately added to music for years and it has been helpful to the industry during that time. Ultimately, audiences are not pleased to be told what they are and are not allowed to hear. That is why censorship should be continued to be used, however limited. I agree with Anthony that music censorship today is just fine the way it is.

The First Amendment to the Bill of Rights exists because the Founders of our country understood the importance of free expression. The First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . ." (Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution 17). One of the ways the American people use this freedom of speech and expression is through the creation of the art form known as music. Music's verbal expression bonds our society through our emotions and experiences. This fundamental right of freedom of expression is being threatened by public and governmental groups who believe they have authority to monitor and decide what others should experience. The censorship of music

Censorship in music is a topic that has brought about much controversy over the past two decades. There have been many different arguments on the topic, however the question still lingers is should censorship still remain. Before you can form an opinion on this, you must hear both sides of the argument on this much-debated topic. Some people believe that music should be censored so all audiences can hear it without it containing any offensive lyrics. Others believe it should not be censored and musical artists should be able to speak, sing, rap, or rhyme freely without anyone censoring them. "Whether a person finds a work obscene depends largely on his or her moral or religious

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.

This issue can date back to when Elvis Presley first appeared in the music scene. Many parents felt that the music that he was making and the way danced was too dirty for their children but that did not stop him and he is now known as the king of rock and roll because of his music. If people start trying to censor artists and their music, then they would be taking away the artists freedom and their creativity. As a side effect, the artists would start to lose their fan base because they are not able to create the content that they want. The fans of the artists would also be affected because now their favorite artists are not created the same music that they fell in love with. This could cause an uproar within the public. The government would then have to put laws in place having to do with music lyrics instead of using that time to deal with more important

Have you ever watched a video of someone talking and their words were sort of blurred out or cut out? This is what people do in order to take the “bad words” out of the video. This is what is called censorship. Censorship is defined as the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. In reference to the category of music censorship, it is a retraction from artist’ work and restricts freedom of speech. Censorship is equivalent to blotting out a portion of a painting or ripping out parts of a movie.

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) would be appropriate for my readers to contact. ACLU is a political organization that is nonprofit and nonpartisan. They have many civil liberties members and supporters. They protect individual rights, your First Amendment rights, your right to equal protection under the law, etc. Censorship goes against your freedom of speech and so they try and protect that from music artists who are having their work censored.

Music, at its core, is a very creative form of speech and has successfully influenced populations in many beneficial ways throughout history. If the government was to censor music, a risk of losing this element is created ("8 Most Valid Pros and Cons of Music Censorship"). However, censorship by private entities should be allowed. Just as artists should have the right to create all types of music, private businesses should have the right to support products that they find acceptable. This type of censorship, on the contrary to government censorship, does not hinder the creative power of music, for the artist is still allowed to express themselves as they see

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.

Many popular music artists today are looked up to for their songs, style, and personality. People in today’s society can be easily influenced and many have role models they look up to and aspire to be. A role model has qualities that affect young kids and also adults that can lead to either positive or negative influences. This can be somewhat of a dangerous thing considering the role model the people choose. While this can be something innocent, like singing along to songs or dressing with a certain style, it can also be something negative, like bad behavior, drug, abuse, and violence. Parts of society, mostly fan bases, condone all types of behavior by their favorite artists, no matter good or bad. This has a potential bad affect on

Music is one of the most popular ways of expression and has been for generations. It makes us want to dance, inspires, soothes, relaxes, and sometimes tells us a story. Music is something the whole world shares and has brought together different kinds of people. However, there has been a question on whether some music has affected society negatively and crossed the line with some of its lyrics, content, and the persona of the artists. Certain music has been boycotted and even banned in the U.S. Pro-censorship supporters say that music is something that can deeply affect our society especially children who should not have to be subjected to things like violence, sex, drugs, or hate. However, being that music is a form of expression,

Musicians and artists when making music may say anything they want too in their songs without repercussion because it’s protected by the first amendment under the free speech clause, yet can only be used as evidence in a criminal trial if it has a strong nexus attached to it. The free speech clause of the First Amendment should protect offensive speech not only because people have the right to speak their minds, but it results in a more democratic society. My opinion about free speech is that offensive language is protected under the first amendment, unless it incites a riot, threatens national security, or causes any type of direct violent response caused by the offensive speech.