People find that the more they are focused on finding the answers to what is and is not allowed within the Freedom of Speech, the more questions that they find. The biggest argument that is used against the idea of Freedom of Speech is the effect that some music is supposed to have on children. For example, there are many raps songs that talk about everything from theft and drugs to rapes and murder. Music and the Freedom of Speech have been finding more and more censorship throughout time.
Per the essay, it states that the music is censored in various ways, including radio censorship. Radio stations have no choice but to censor music. The FCC has set many boundaries when it comes to censoring music, including getting rid of curse words, in songs. The FCC claims that if a song is against the law to broadcast obscene, indecent, or profane content.
The thing is that it is hard to find the right source for censoring the songs. One thing that is certain is that you would not want a parent being the one to censor the music, because they would end up with more censored out of it than there should have been. The truth is that music has been censored to some extent, since the 1950’s. The parental advisory on CD’s and the fact certain words are not even allowed on the radio are just two examples of this. I agree with what the essay said about the need for there to be outside third-party censors, because they would be the most unbiased source for censorship.
This article questioned many of my own beliefs on the idea that censorship is needed in music. While there is a need for musicians to be able to have some freedom in the music that they create, plus the First Commandment offered the right to the freedom of speech, there is a point where it has to be questioned on what it too much freedom. There is also an argument on how involved the parents should be in privately censoring what their child or children listen to. It is ultimately the parent and child’s choice, although more government involvement has seemed to be showing within the censorship of the music that is heard on a larger scale.
References
Federal Communications Commission. (2013, January 14). Obscene, Indecent and Profane Broadcasts. Consumer Guide. Washington, D.C., USA. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from FCC: http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.pdf
Hall, R. A. (2009). Music Censorship. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from Lehigh: http://www.lehigh.edu/~infirst/musiccensorship.html
