Music Censorship - Research Paper Example

Music Censorship How Could the Musicians in America save Their Communities’ Morals and Their Money if the Country Had an Efficient Legal System That Included Stringent Laws against Censoring Music” This paper determines whether musicians should play an instrumental role within their communities in order to save their people’s morals and money while stipulating the need for stringent censorship laws and an efficient legal system to help in music censorship. According to research, music provides a powerful avenue for expressing peoples' feelings and desires while entertaining or influencing other people. In the past, there were no regulations for governing censoring of music in America though the process began increasing its pace in the 1950’s. This happened when the perceptions of the traditionalists and the conservatives in the music industry started coming out in the open (Nuzum, 2001). With the introduction of rock and roll music, there was an increase in immorality among the American youths that in turn brought controversies with the beliefs of the traditionalists within their community (Johnson & Cloonan, 2009). The ethical bodies within the country were charged with the task of determining what was good or bad despite the constitution not doing so. They aimed at regulating issues like drug abuse, violence and sex topics that were being openly discussed by several musicians. Stringent laws in censoring music in America could help strengthen the morals of the community, and the cost effects of the music industries sales. By the end of the 1950’s, the new generations had already began expressing their new perceptions on the issues of sex, drugs and violence thereby bringing the need for censorship in music. The issues of sex and drugs no longer became secret but were openly talked about thereby making censorship in music vital. The musicians in America can save their communities’ morals and their money if the country had an efficient legal system that included stringent laws against censoring music by discarding racial motivations in their music (Semonche, 2007). The legislation of anti-racist laws by the government may also play an important role in helping to curb the matter. For example, with the onset of rhythm and blues music that is greatly associated with black musicians, the issues of sex and drug use became more openly spoken about (Johnson & Cloonan, 2009). The majority of the white population reportedly perceived this music as being responsible for the drug’s use and violence found among the black youths. In regards to these accusations and trends, many songs by various black artists have been banned and termed as controversial, and they should therefore discard these lyrics (Nuzum, 2001). Musicians should avoid producing music that will instill fear among their young listeners. This is because such content will prevent the young people from leading ethical lives while at the same time affecting them negatively in their growth. For instance, with the song the ’pill’ by Lynn Loretta in the year 1975, many radio stations banned this music though it led to the growing popularity of contraception among the youth and an increase in unsafe sexual practices within their community. These activities in turn lead to unwanted pregnancies and life threatening diseases which become very expensive to their guardians and the system as a whole (Burns, 2004). The issues of speech freedom are protected through the first amendment made on the American constitution. The censorship of music within the United States has brought forth suppression in public communication and speeches made by several individuals or groups. The freedoms awarded to the American society regarding their speeches have also brought controversies and contests. For example, during the cold war era numerous anti-communist sentiments were allowed and hate speeches as long as the speaker did not incite other people to indulge in illegal activities, which raised controversy (Johnson & Cloonan, 2009). The first amendment on the American constitution goes against the censorships imposed by other laws though it does not offer protection against commercial censorship. Through the communications commission formed by the federal government, the indecent broadcast of television and radio broadcasts has been regulated (Nuzum, 2001). The musicians within America would be able to save the people a lot of money and their morals by regulating the lyrics that they are using because it enables them to show some degree of responsibility (Semonche, 2007). Musicians should not be allowed to expose sexually explicit contents to the young children at home without the consent of their guardians or parents (Nuzum, 2001). However, censorship and stringent laws regulating the sexual content in a musician’s work have greatly helped in shaping the sexual behaviors of the society. This has been achieved through the regulation of the sexual messages that musicians give to their audiences (Johnson & Cloonan, 2009). The actions have in turn led the American community into indulging in safe sexual acts which have eventually brought a reduction in sexually transmitted ailments and the costs incurred when seeking medication for the conditions (Nuzum, 2001). Censorship in music would also assist in reducing the issue of negative stereotyping within the American society. This stereotyping may in turn bring harm to the society as some of the themes being advocated for are immoral (Semonche, 2007). For example, rock and rap stars within America have in the past been accused of reaffirming violent and wife battery stereotypes that have been largely replicated by their fans (Drewett, 2006). The use of an efficient legal system and stringent laws by the federal government would enable their musicians to avoid the negative stereotyping. If America had an effective legal system that included stringent laws against censoring music, the musicians in the country would save their communities morals and their money by helping their government through the provision of finances to enable them perform their ethical obligations (Nuzum, 2001). This is mainly because the censorship of vulgar and obscene languages within the music industry by the government would greatly help in deterring corruption among the young children (Drewett, 2006). The young children according to reports are more easily influenced by immoral lyrics or could end up misinterpreting them. Many of them may not have the ability of differentiating between fantasies and what is actually happening in the reality thereby deterring their focus in their academic and social activities (Nuzum, 2001). The musicians in America can save their community’s morals and money through the censorship enforced by their legal system and stringent laws by helping to limit the intolerance that is present among the country’s youth (Johnson & Cloonan, 2009). This is because some of the musical lyrics that the youths get exposed to usually display disrespect to certain individuals and groups within their society. Such actions may result in the denial of opportunities to these groups and individuals thereby denying their economy the chance of benefiting from their activities through the taxes they might collect from them (Drewett, 2006). Through their censorship of such musical contents, the musicians may enrich their youths by enabling them to become more tolerant with other different groups or individuals (Semonche, 2007). The implementation of stringent laws and an efficient law system may lead to an increase in profits for musicians and other dealers who sell music. This is because through censorship, the musician may be able to get to a wide variety of audiences and appeal to other individuals who were previously no aware of their music. The censorship of music by musicians in America may additionally help in improving the nation’s security, regulate obscenity, child pornography and hate speech while at the same time protecting the children. It is also vital as it enables the restriction on airing of political views that may cause tensions among the society, slander or libel and damage to intellectual property (Semonche, 2007). However, despite the inequalities and injustices that music censorship tends to offer to the American public, many critics around the globe have come against the censors for infringing on human rights (Burns, 2004). The passing of laws to prevent the release of uncensored music by American musicians would go a long way in ensuring that the young generation’s morals are good. The censorship in music should cover their live concerts, cover arts and their styles of dressing (Nuzum, 2001). Even if the American constitution does not encourage music censorship, other legal agencies have been tasked with the responsibility of enforcing it. For example, in the year 1990, the parent’s music resources center allowed the recording industry to release unethical content that had a warning label attached to it. This was mainly to enable the parents and guardians to regulate the type of music that their children were accessing (Johnson & Cloonan, 2009). Issues like racism have continuously affected the music industry with some genres being linked only to certain races. The musicians should aim at producing music which will not motivate any racial prejudices among the community. This may be achieved by participating in the production of several genres of music and their refusal to use lyrics that promote racism. Censorship in American music that is motivated by racism is not something that was carried out in the past but an issue that is still persisting. According to Drewett, the censorship of music in the developing world has been motivated by issues like piracy which have greatly affected their economies through the loss of finances. He gives the example of Kenya where he states that the country’s government has lost millions in revenue through unscrupulous individuals and groups who participate in the illegal copying and distribution of music. These activities have in turn affected the lifestyles of the musicians in these countries that some of them are still living below the poverty line despite the fact that they have achieved a lot of success in the works (2006). American musicians should aim at regulating the copying and distribution of their works to ensure that they do not incur losses on sales. The regulation of the sale and distribution of music should be performed by authorized bodies that are legally entitled to punish any wrongdoers who are punished. In order to minimize the moral decay and the loss of money by their listeners, the musicians within America should aim at producing works that are acceptable across the diverse cultures present within their economies (Drewett, 2006). Different cultures perceive various issues in different ways implying that musicians should ascertain the meaning of the words they are using before releasing their work to the public. References Burns, K. (2004). Censorship. London: Greenhaven Press. Drewett, M. (2006).Popular Music Censorship in Africa. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Johnson, B. &Cloonan, M. (2009).Dark Side of the Tune: Popular Music and Violence. New York: Ashgate Publishing. Nuzum, E. D. (2001). Parental Advisory: Music Censorship In America. New York: HarperCollins. Semonche, J. E. (2007). Censoring Sex: A Historical Journey through American Media. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More