Music Censorship

Censorship in Music When listening to the radio, most people come across a song that has been changed from its original version, whether certain words are beeped out, or a string of lyrics are replaced altogether. This is censorship, and it is very common on the radio. It is also very controversial. People don’t agree what should be censored or if anything should be censored at all. However, we believe that censorship is a good thing. Censorship allows offensive music to be altered so that it is not offensive anymore. It also prevents younger children from being exposed to harsh and inappropriate content in a society where access to music is growing. The positives of censorship outweigh the negatives by far.
What is Censorship?
Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication that may be considered harmful or sensitive to people as determined by a government or the media. Censorship of music is when free access to musical works is banned. This censorship may come from a series of motivations such as moral, political, religious, or obscenity reasons. Music censorship first began in the early 1940’s when rock and R&B began to challenge traditional values. “Sex and drugs were no longer hidden and secretive but something to be exposed and celebrated.” (Gross 126) People thought that rock and R&B had corrupted the young minds of America. In 1955, the first 30 songs were banned, many of them by black artists. Then in the 1970’s not only music, but also music videos were also being banned. Heavy metal was targeted for expressing too much violence in the music. Music videos performed by black artists were also not aired on television. The first music video by a black artist to appear on MTV was Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”. (Baker 9) These efforts to censor black music and music videos were claimed as racism. Incidents involving black-oriented rap music have occurred more than white-oriented hard rock music. Then again, rap music may be

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