The Importance Of Censorship In Music

Music is the most influential form of media to date. Easily accessible, radio dominated most American homes in the early twentieth-century as the only form of entertainment and connection to the world. It wasn 't until later in the century when radio was used by artist as a creative expression of their beliefs, thoughts and ideas. To most musicians, music was a way of reflecting on personal experiences and environments. The extent of expression has become questionable. Freedom of expression in music may place a danger in American lives. Many songs under the rise of the rap genre were questioned in the late twentieth-century under the accusation the music influenced what was socially deemed as negative behavior. The controversy created by artist’s

The freedom of expression was created in order to protect everyone’s beliefs and ideas within the country so when censorship is suggested, it is believed that it takes away from what this nation was founded on. Censorship typically only “occurs when an authority perceives a threat to moral values, or to powerful social structures such as the government, or religious institutions” (Aliprandini, Michael, and Geraldine Wagner). The level of explicitness is hard to gauge because the idea of what is explicit is subjective and entirely opinion based. Who is to be left to decide what is or is not explicit because everyone is bound to have a particular bias. There is great opposition toward censoring content especially because artist solely rely on their art form, in this instance music, as a form of expression and a platform for their voice. The thought of someone controlling this rattles Americans to their core and why shouldn’t it. America was founded on religious and political refugees searching for asylum for their beliefs but harmful and false damaging content can be conjured and this is where the line needs to be

Without the established government restraints on freedom of speech like decided necessary in Schenck v. United States, harmful speech could be spread creating dangerous environments. When considering the massive influence that music has on the public, censorship is a productive way to prevent immediate damage to a person 's “psychological or physical” health (Amy, and C. Ames Cushman). When reviewing the song “Fuck Tha Police” by the group N.W.A, “it was believed that action was needed to be taken because the song took a “radical stance that pointed out a certain group” (Aliprandini, Michael, and Geraldine Wagner”). The origin of the concept behind the popular and explicit song “Fuck The Police” traces back further than the eighties rap group known as N.W.A. The song resulted in people expressing disgust to the police while protesting, or rioting all over the world. The FBI believed that the phrase “advocated violence and assault”(“The FBI Agent Who Hunted N.W.A”). This phrase did not necessarily create the issue at hand but it did fuel the fire of distrust between African Americans and police. Some may argue that without censorship certain scenarios can have a negative outcome. Other media outlets like internet are also displaying negative effects like “Children, exposed to pornography through the Internet or other popular media tend to model their own behavior and