"Music censorship is the term used to describe the act of editing, altering, or preventing the listener from hearing the music as the artist created it in order to either deny certain information or to act as a moral gatekeeper of potentially harmful material" (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~barndollar/courses/spring98/students/fabfive/index.html). The Censorship of music in the United Stated is documented as far back as 1954, when "Michigan congresswoman Ruth Thompson introduces a bill in the House that would ban mailing of any pornographic recording, punishable by five years imprisonment and a $ 5,000 fine" (http://ericnuzum.com/banned/fifties.html). Even Elvis Aaron Presley, 'The King of rock-n-roll' was once thought of as obscene. I

Many organizations have been founded as a counter attack to the Parent's Music Resource Center. One group that works for freedom of expression call themselves, Parents of Rock and Rap. Members include students of all ages, parents, grandparents, college professors and musicians.

No matter what side of the issue you stand for, the issues as of now have to be settled by the consumer. "Restricting the purchase of displeasing recordings is censorship"(Zeinert 27). The entire system must be carefully examined, including prior court rulings and decisions on the music industry and the way in which we protect our children from what they see and hear. One must ask if it is constitutionally moral, and then we may begin to change the warning system, so that our guaranteed freedoms do not die. Personally, I feel that any type of censorship is wrong. However, it does not mean that in does not serve its some purpose in cases. That is up to the individual in hand.

In the past ten years especially, music has been under attack by many law makers, prosecutors and critics of morality and good taste. One attack on this freedom comes from parental advisory stickers. These stickers are used as a form of censorship against an artist and their lyrics. If a label will produce an album, I don't think there should be any reason that the consumer can't decide for him or herself if lyrics contained in the album are found obscene or otherwise unsuitable. In order to begin the debate on whether or not parental advisory stickers serve as a form of censorship, one must consider what the word censor implies. The word censor means "the power to suppress publications or excise any matter i

Some common words found in the essay are:
Louie' Kingsmen, Resource Center, Woolworth's K-mart, Industry America, Rock Rap, American Music, Ruth Thompson, Cop Killer, Ed Sullivan, Aaron Presley, parental advisory, form censorship, parental advisory stickers, advisory stickers, sexually explicit material, resource center, advisory sticker, protect children, word censor, rock rap, parental advisory sticker, music resource center, music industry, explicit material,
Approximate Word count = 1135
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)