Censorship of American Music Although is clearly states in the first amendment that "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 to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances," censorship in America still exists in a big way. I think censorship can be applied to almost anything, including music of all kinds. "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 Hou!

se 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-rol

display, an album with any kind of parental advisory sticker on it. While it is true that legally these labels do not prohibit sales to anyone, the labels "amount to an elegant form of censorship, elegant because it is censorship made to look like consumer information." (1) As controversial as records like Ice T and other artists who use either swears or sexually explicit material are, artistic pieces no matter what kink of message they send, or however unpopular they may be, are still protected by the first amendment to the constitution. The people who vote for and pass the laws prohibiting free speech are taking it upon themselves what they think is moral and right for the rest of the country. I feel I can make up my own mind about what type of music I listen to, how about you? One organization claiming to protect the children is the Parents Music Resource Center. At the center of the music labeling controversy, the P.M.R.C., "feels that current levels of violence, racism, b!

f America. Later in 1990, although each company retained discretion regarding the labeling of specific records, the size, placement and wording of the logo were standardized. The current labeling consists of a black and white logo, fixed to the permanent packaging on the bottom right hand corner. For all the controversy these stickers stir up, do they really serve a practical use for protecting the young people of the nation? Parental advisory stickers, voluntary or mandatory, act as a form of censorship because the stickers effect the availability of a sound recording. More and more music stores are restricting the accessibility of works deemed to be offe

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, music resource center, music lyrics, sexually explicit, free speech, explicit material, censorship american music, censorship america, parental advisory sticker, music labeling, sexually explicit material, rock rap,
Approximate Word count = 1106
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)