Music Censorship

After killing you loudly with rhymes, beats, and rhythms, the music industry as a whole has gone through many trials and tribulations. Society has shifted in such a manner that allows and encourages freethinking and abstract arts and with those great things we face the problem of censorship. From an artist’s perspective it’s their “work,” but from another’s point of view that same piece of “work” can be garbage to another. Now in the 21st century we face an artistic crossroads. We are left with the question how far can an artist go? In addition, when we do go too far, do we censor? Censors are now disguised as retailers and distributors, special-interest groups, and less influential but passionate religious groups, and government authorities. Ultimately, when all is said, there remains one question and that question is does censorship conflict with the first amendment?

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” (Beahm, 1993, p. 79) The court, in FCC v. Pacifica, said that although the First Amendment protects indecent speech, the commission could regulate the airwaves with only a few exceptions. In Pacifica, the court ruled in the FCC's favor, allowing it to curb utterances of the famous seven words that cannot be said on the air. The Pacifica case has remained substantially unchanged, despite a few lower court challenges and the Supreme Court's decision in Reno v. ACLU striking down an indecency standard for the Internet but not for on-air broadcasts. The current ban on indecent broadcasts applies strictly to those between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are most likely to be listening to the radio or watching television. Many would say that buying a CD or an adult film is much different than having a medium that is easily accessible such as radio, but others would counter that censoring lyrics abridges freedom of speech and that if someone is offended by the music on a station, that they should change the station.

The owner of a Florida record store was convicted of obscenity charges for selling a recording by the rap group 2 Live Crew that had been declared obscene by a Federal judge. “As Nasty ...

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...can government wants Americans to be sparred from obscenities in movies, TV, CD’s, and milder obscenities on the censored radios, they should alter the wording of the 1st Amendment to allow for blocking of obscenities when the government deems necessary. As the 1st Amendment states now, “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” That means no law can be passed that abridges of the freedom of speech and freedom of speech entails that Americans can say as they please. Anything calling for someone not to be able to say as they please abridges the principle of the 1st Amendment.

Bibliography

Beahm, George. War of Words: The Censorship Debate. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1993. Carter, T. Barton. Mass Communication Law In a Nutshell. St. Paul, Minnesota: West Group, 2000. Creech, Kenneth. Electronic Media Law and Regulation. Boston: Focal Press 2000. Daily, Jay E. The Anatomy of Censorship. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1973. Menconi, Al. Today’s Music: A Window To Your Child’s Soul. Elgin, Illinois: David C. Cook Publishing Co. 1990 Perkins, Erin. Droppin’ Science: Critcial Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 1996