Censor This
Music, which has been around since the beginning of time, is a vital aspect to every individual’s daily life. It surrounds us as we work, as we play and as we go from place to place. Some use music as motivation while they work. Others use music as a release, a way to loosen up after a hard day. Music can be inspirational, deep and moving. Artists project their feelings and emotions to their audience through words and melodies. Music is powerful because it allows people to express themselves uniquely. The opportunity to create music and share it with the world is a right that every person has, and deserves. However, this opportunity becomes more and more limited as time goes on. Years ago, people began trying to censor music and it hasn’t been the same since. In 1990, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), after being pressured by the Parent’s Music Resource Center (PMRC), a conservative activist group lead by Tipper Gore and Susan Baker, introduced a music labeling system for those works found to have explicit lyrics. Record companies were provided with stickers that read, “Parental Advisory – Explicit Lyrics,” to be placed on CDs, tapes and albu
re not sure how many and which of these laws apply to them thus defeating their purpose. Many national chains and local music stores corporation should be allowed to deny anyone the freedom of expression that lies in the first amendment. These bodies cannot be given the power to control what any individual chooses to write or listen to. Censorship limits freedom, it is as simple as that. Any form of censorship is wrong and is in violation of the first amendment. Our founding fathers made it the first amendment because it is the most important. It is this amendment that gives all citizens of the United States freedom of speech. Music is a form of expression and, like any other form of expression, it is protected by the first amendment. Legislation created to limit the rights of artists and listeners is unconstitutional and should be stopped. The choice should be left in the hands of the people not the legislators. ms. However, the RIAA failed to provide record companies with any standards, criteria or guidelines for determining what recordings should be labeled. With the decision of which music should be labeled left up to the record companies, “labels appear only on rock and rap albums and not recording of country music, opera, or musical comedy, even though they may also contain controversial material” (SILS 529). violating the Constitution. The issue of freedom of speech in the fight against Wal-Mart, one of the biggest music retailers in the country, hol
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Approximate Word count = 1012
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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