Censorship Of Music Essay

In today’s society, most Americans listen to music every single day. In fact, according to an unknown study, roughly 87 percent of the United States population listens to music every single day. However, lately there has been a controversy over the rights and freedoms the musicians should have regarding their music and freedom of speech and what the government and radio stations can edit and censor from the general public. Many people argue that this is a breach of the artists 1st amendment rights, but it is crucial that the government censored some of the music that is released into the media today. The censorship of certain ideas and subject matter in music is very important because it can help protect the youth in our country from sensitive topics.

One of the first arguments people who are against the censorship of music done by the Federal Communications Commission make is that the censorship of music is unconstitutional because it violates the artists freedom of speech and expression. This however, is partially untrue. Yes it is true that just censoring someones speech is violating their rights protected by the first amendment, however according to Attorney Boyle, a defense lawyer in the state of New Hampshire, the government can regulate speech if there is substantial reason to do so. In the case of Grayned v The City of Rockford the Supreme Court decided upon the Time, Place, and Manner ruling. This ruling states that speech can be regulated if the manner of the speech is not appropriate for the time and place it is being presented. Like on television, there are certain times that are acceptable for late night television themes and language. This rule should also be applicable to the laws of radio. During times where any...

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The studies state that most artists appreciate the labeling system and therefore have no problem with it’s existence, because with the existence of the label, the musicians are free to publish whatever they want without an endless wave of lawsuits from record labels and parents everywhere.

Music is very important in its unedited form. Music is a large portion of our culture today. It’s a widely popular form of art that should be appreciated in its original form. However, like the law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, states that there is a time, place, and manner for everything. This ruling was very smart because now we have all of our new rules in place to help keep the explicit music out of the ears of the younger kids until they themselves become old enough to make the decision for themselves to choose to appreciate the art in its unedited form as well.