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Music and censorship.
Music is the greatest gift conferred on us depending on the message, rhythm and the genre of preference. People around the world listen to various forms of music when they feel depressed, hurt emotionally and for fun. Music has evolved over the years with new genres being introduced to identify with a particular population especially the young generation. The advancement of technology has brought a considerable change in the music industry especially the production and marketing of music. As a person, there is some music that resonates with us. We understand the songs at a deeper level because they touch some aspects of our lives. There are different types of songs those which feel on diverse topics from politics and violence to love. Sites such as Spotify and iTunes have made it possible for people to access thousands of content especially music of different genres. The artists and producers have also benefitted from such arrangements because they can produce content to sell to these sites and can get paid in return. The sites provide content on the go in that users can access thousands of songs anywhere they may be. Compared to previous years, the music industry has become a monetary affair where artists sign huge contracts with producers and also become brand ambassadors for well-established companies and the tremendous growth of social media in the recent years has also helped to boost their public image with huge followings and fans who listen to their music. People become ardent followers of these music artists.
Publicity of being a celebrity also contributes to the way their music is perceived and received by the public. The more a musician is famous, the higher their number of followers. We tend to act and do things regarding those artists we follow and do what they do to feel that we belong to that clique of people who are diehard fans. It has a massive impact on the decision making of individuals if they are to mimic everything that their favorite person does. There is a huge influence that these people have on those who listen to their music. Music censorship involves the censoring of contentment where harmful content is stricken out from the production or labels are put on the outside casing to indicate that it has content that is not suitable for specific individuals of a given age. Censorship was started way back in 1985 when the parents’ music resource center was formed to help eradicate the effects that favorite music was having on them (Chastagner pg. 179-192.). When a person identifies with somebody, they are often inclined to do or be compelled to do whatever the person does. In music, the lyrics and the general idea portrayed by a musical artist can have a significant impact on their followers because they borrow from the ideologies of the singer and see them as their mentor. Eliminating content that might be harmful to listeners or content that which advocates a particular idea might be beneficial in the reduction of crime or the number of abuses and other crimes as people do them due to influence from these singers and those in the music industry as a whole.
There have been different happenings in the world where some section of people especially the LGBT community due to profiling by musicians in their songs and some through their songs encourage violence against such people. Morals have degraded and through rules and putting regulations to censor this songs we are pushing too hard due to moral panic where we no longer know what is right and what is wrong and whether to let people have their rights and freedoms as stipulated by the constitutions through freedom of expression or censor the contents to protect or avert disaster waiting to happen (Shuker pg.225-239). There have been many cases of murder, rape, and violence around the world. Parents and people are wary of their safety and are fearful of those who propagate such agendas and are bent to make sure that they did not spread their message of hate, rape or any form of violence as in the case of Bronson deterred from performing at the summer festivals by local officials. They weighed in on the reasons and were able to convince the festival organizers no to let the artist perform because they had valid reasons to do so and the organizers wouldn’t have backed down had they not had enough ideas that would have been a consequence of the artist performing. In this case, they were justified to do so because we are in a society of uncertainty where disaster strikes without notice and having people encourage violence is not the way to go. Modern societies provide for equity, accountability and having a government for the people and by the people and there should be a free expression of one’s ideas and way of thinking without oppression or fear of prosecution. However, when it comes to security and national cohesion cannot be tolerated due to the rising insecurity and political temperatures, and we cannot have people encouraging the same through songs. The fact that whatever these musicians write about is only listened to after the production of a musical piece and the freedom that has been given to them such that they can write on different topics and people listen and sometimes drawn to the ideologies that the musician is trying to portray is dangerous.
There exist a lot of sensitive topics in the world right now where people are of different thoughts and moderate thinking to extremists. People mostly parents, see it as a responsibility to protect their children against content they feel can be harmful to them because they presume that they cannot make the right choices on their own and it can end up being costly. Censorship is possible in any democratic society if it is in the best interest of its citizens. It is only through statistical analysis and data collection will there be a sound judgment as to whether censoring content helps in making those listening to the songs make better and sound judgments or it reduces the creativity and the ability of artists to produce quality songs because of suppression. Knowing the impact and having in mind that to some as a musician you might be a role model to many people especially the young generation is essential. Production of harmful content where sensitive topics are talked about and as a musician express your view to thousands of people across the globe might not turn out well. Some people might decide to act on those words and discriminate against the people or subject the musician is singing about. Morality and humanity are fundamental parts of human life because it helps keep in check some of our inner demons and therefore music should help in contributing positively to society as it is something that is known worldwide and passes different messages across the globe to various people around the world.
Reference
Shuker, Roy. Understanding popular music. Routledge, 2013.
Chastagner, Claude. “The parents’ music resource center: From information to censorship.” Popular Music 18.2 (1999): 179-192.