Patrick Byrne
Mrs. Draus
Grade 10 English, Period 1
March 20, 2015
Stop Music Censorship
Music provides a powerful form of expression and individualism that helps to entertain, relax, and calm the mind, while containing the power to help one detach themselves from everything that is taking place around them. The power of music scares some people who become afraid of the powerful potential it has to shape attitudes and beliefs. Music has existed for a long time, dating from about 1500BC and still very big in society today. The censoring of music did not start until the late 1920s. Music helps to express individuality, and should not be controlled. According to a poll asking if the government should censor lyrics, only 31% said the government …show more content…
The government could use this as s way to control the content that radio stations broadcasted. The Radio Act prohibited the use of obscene, indecent or profane language through the air. They first used it to fine a radio station in 1970, fifty-three years after they passed the Act, because of a reference to sex. Back in 1934, congress created the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to monitor international material played through radio and television. The FCC is run by five commissioners that are appointed by the government, and has been in charge of controlling music play throughout the entirety of 1934 to present day. Since their creation, not only have they added to the laws prohibiting music play, but they are also directly involved with censoring it themselves. The core reason music censorship is as heavily used as it is today is because of the FCC. Censorship is presented as the opposite of freedom, and music as the epitome of free expression. “Music, at its most fundamental, is freedom” (Nuzum 153). By this account, censorship is wrong. Governments should not control people. It should be the other way around. Creativity is restricted. It stifles the opposition, broadcasting only a particular point of view (Stubner). As for the advisory stickers, a 1994 study of music stores in Portland, Oregon, found the warnings on 8 percent of all new releases, but 59 percent of hip-hop releases, on the shelves (Nuzum 35). Many states have started to ban any shirts or apparel with artists that they deem inappropriate. In Northwood Ohio, police officers saw a shirt of an artist and told the kid to take it off, because it was banned in the state
Mrs. Draus
Grade 10 English, Period 1
March 20, 2015
Stop Music Censorship
Music provides a powerful form of expression and individualism that helps to entertain, relax, and calm the mind, while containing the power to help one detach themselves from everything that is taking place around them. The power of music scares some people who become afraid of the powerful potential it has to shape attitudes and beliefs. Music has existed for a long time, dating from about 1500BC and still very big in society today. The censoring of music did not start until the late 1920s. Music helps to express individuality, and should not be controlled. According to a poll asking if the government should censor lyrics, only 31% said the government …show more content…
The government could use this as s way to control the content that radio stations broadcasted. The Radio Act prohibited the use of obscene, indecent or profane language through the air. They first used it to fine a radio station in 1970, fifty-three years after they passed the Act, because of a reference to sex. Back in 1934, congress created the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to monitor international material played through radio and television. The FCC is run by five commissioners that are appointed by the government, and has been in charge of controlling music play throughout the entirety of 1934 to present day. Since their creation, not only have they added to the laws prohibiting music play, but they are also directly involved with censoring it themselves. The core reason music censorship is as heavily used as it is today is because of the FCC. Censorship is presented as the opposite of freedom, and music as the epitome of free expression. “Music, at its most fundamental, is freedom” (Nuzum 153). By this account, censorship is wrong. Governments should not control people. It should be the other way around. Creativity is restricted. It stifles the opposition, broadcasting only a particular point of view (Stubner). As for the advisory stickers, a 1994 study of music stores in Portland, Oregon, found the warnings on 8 percent of all new releases, but 59 percent of hip-hop releases, on the shelves (Nuzum 35). Many states have started to ban any shirts or apparel with artists that they deem inappropriate. In Northwood Ohio, police officers saw a shirt of an artist and told the kid to take it off, because it was banned in the state