Why Music Censorship is No Longer Necessary
Censorship of music is the practice of restricting free access to musical works. This censorship may stem from a wide variety of motivations, including moral, political, military or religious reasons. Censorship can range from the complete government-enforced legal prohibition of a musical work, to private, voluntary removal of content when a musical work appears in a certain context. In order to allow songs to be played wherever possible, it is common to censor particular words, particularly profanities. Some music labels or artists produce censored versions themselves, sometimes with alternative lyrics, to comply with the rules set by various radio and television programs. But is this necessary? Would censoring music now be innovative or post-modern?
Some people think this censorship is pointless because much of the time, the audience knows what the word is anyways. For instance, in many songs, the word "ass" is usually censored when it is used as an insult or sexually, usually by distorting the word, or silencing part or the whole word. The word "asshole" is usually completely censored, but sometimes, only "ass" is censored, while "hole" is not. This would make it very easy to be known to the audience what the word being said is. This is also true for the censorship of the word “shit” when only the “sh” is pronounced, such as in the radio edit of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl.” Parents are against this censoring because when they keep part of the word or leave it obvious what word is being said, their kids still know what is being said and can still sing, even if only in their heads, the real words.
Other people take offense to certain censors. For example, when the Taylor Swift song "Picture to Burn" first hit airwaves, some radio stations changed the line, "That's fine, I'll tell mine that you're gay" to, "That's fine, you won't mind if I say". Some listeners took offense to the fact that they changed it because it is implying that being gay is a
Some people think this censorship is pointless because much of the time, the audience knows what the word is anyways. For instance, in many songs, the word "ass" is usually censored when it is used as an insult or sexually, usually by distorting the word, or silencing part or the whole word. The word "asshole" is usually completely censored, but sometimes, only "ass" is censored, while "hole" is not. This would make it very easy to be known to the audience what the word being said is. This is also true for the censorship of the word “shit” when only the “sh” is pronounced, such as in the radio edit of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl.” Parents are against this censoring because when they keep part of the word or leave it obvious what word is being said, their kids still know what is being said and can still sing, even if only in their heads, the real words.
Other people take offense to certain censors. For example, when the Taylor Swift song "Picture to Burn" first hit airwaves, some radio stations changed the line, "That's fine, I'll tell mine that you're gay" to, "That's fine, you won't mind if I say". Some listeners took offense to the fact that they changed it because it is implying that being gay is a