1,871
20
Essay, 5 pages (1100 words)

Music’s effect on society essay

Throughout the years, different musicians from all genres of music have influenced society in one way or another.

The lyrics in some music have affected adults to fight against what they believe is profane music and they attempted to get rid of it all together. Music has been notably banned since the 1950??? s when some songs were ??? too suggestive??? for public jukebox??? s. Criticism of profane music has continued throughout the decades, but the limits have been pushed. Has any good come of banning music and censoring it, or has it all been a waste of time? For decades, there have been musicians who push the limits. Their albums contain album artwork displaying a man carrying a bloodied woman, a close up of a man??? s crotch, and lyrics that are downright disgusting.

Are any of those thing really terrible or threatening to where they need to be banned and discriminated against? Most likely one of the most notable cases of society against music came in 1985, when the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) fought to have a rating system for music. The ladies of PMRC were taken to Senate of Commerce Technology and Transportation Committee to state their case. The PMRC leader was Tipper Gore, Al Gore??? s wife. Dee Snider was also there to defend music against the accusations of music glorifying rape and violence.

Snider is the lead singer for the glam metal band ??? Twisted Sister???, and provided a great case defending music. During the case, there was a great amount of pressure from the media. In the end, it was ruled that the albums come with a warning label if the lyrics contain profane content. It seemed that rock had lost, but it actually helped rock a lot.

Kids in the 80s wanted profane music, and the stickers helped the music sell. When Nikki Sixx of ??? Motley Crue??? heard of the new rule, he said ??? Put them on! ??? he knew the stickers would help the albums sell. Most of the albums that needed the sticker during that time were not terrible, but some went way over the line. During the 90s there were lots of musicians who took their lyrics too far and it caused adults to ban it, and fight against the senseless acts of Satan! In 1990, the rap group ??? 2 Live Crew??? was ruled obscene under state law by a Tennessee judge.

Some would say they caused it themselves with songs like ??? Me So Horny??? and ??? The Fuck Shop???. Another rap group, N. W. A, caused trouble with officials because of their song ??? Fuck the Police???. They received a letter from the F. B.

I saying the agency did not appreciate their song. Perhaps these two rap groups had it coming with their obscene lyrics. What about the fans of such music groups? Music was even causing high school students to get in trouble, just for supporting musicians. In 1998, Eric Van Hoven wore a shirt displaying the band ??? Korn??? and was suspended, even though the shirt did not display any profane material, all it did was display the band name.

Also in 1998, a high school band is prohibited from performing an instrumental version of ??? White Rabbit??? because of its drug references. Were the causes of these actions really respectable? There is also another group that limits music availability, parents. Many parents don??? t let their kids listen to certain music groups, or make their children listen to the edited versions of albums. They may believe that music for their kids generation is corrupt and satanic, when in reality, it??? s no worse than the music they listened to as a child. Of course there may be much more profane language, lyrics about violence, sex, and drugs, but it??? s at the same level.

Meaning music to kids living in these times, is like Elvis was to kids in the 50??? s. There was controversy towards Elvis from the parents of those kids that the kids probably didn??? t understand, just like there is controversy over music today that kids now don??? t understand. Times change, and so do standards. If anyone understands that at all I would think it would be adults from the 50??? s. Some people even believe that creating controversy about music, and placing parental advisory stickers on music makes it worse than it would have been. The people who get angry with music and discriminate against it have presumably listened to the music and formed their own opinion on what the music is about.

When they get angry with what they think the music is about they tell everyone what they think the music??? s about and try to fight it. This happened with Tipper Gore and ??? Twisted Sisters??? album, ??? Under the Blade???. Tipper Gore accused the album of being about sadomasochism, when really it was about being at a hospital getting surgery done. When Mrs.

Gore explained what she believed it was about, Snider said he can??? t help it if she has a dirty mind. When Mrs. Gore said what she believed the album was about, millions of teenagers who weren??? t sure what the album was about may have taken her idea and then wrongfully believed that sadomasochism was a cool thing because Twisted Sister thought it was, when they really didn??? t. If Tipper Gore would have just kept her mouth shut then many kids would never have thought the album was a bad thing, even though Snider corrected her. Adrian North did a test with music and what people say about it.

His group took 80 people and took four of the same songs for the people to listen to. They gave half of the people a paper talking about the music and saying that it had been under controversy and that it meant bad things, while they gave the other group papers that said the music had great meaning. After they listened to the music, a majority of the people believed what they had read, even though it may have been completely farfetched. The idea here is, that by adults being angry with music and censoring it, that is creating the idea for many youth that the music means bad things even when it may not. The thing about music is every person has their own interpretation about it, and when you tell someone what a certain piece of music means, they will believe it.

So when there are parental advisory stickers on music, people see that and immediately think that the music is bad. Music has always caused society to react in a manner that may be considered much too dramatic. The outcome of the negativity towards all this music helped the music in some cases, but also hurt in other cases. All of these court cases and profane music has resulted in banned music, warning stickers, and punished children in America.

It also seems that controversy over music does nothing but hurt the adults and creates bad ideas of what the music is. Maybe everyone should just leave music be and let everyone decipher it on their own. Works Citedhttp://www. classicbands. com/banned. htmlhttp://www. nndb. com/org/374/000128987/http://www. theroc. org/updates/korn. htm

Thank's for Your Vote!
Music’s effect on society essay. Page 1
Music’s effect on society essay. Page 2
Music’s effect on society essay. Page 3
Music’s effect on society essay. Page 4
Music’s effect on society essay. Page 5
Music’s effect on society essay. Page 6

This work, titled "Music’s effect on society essay" was written and willingly shared by a fellow student. This sample can be utilized as a research and reference resource to aid in the writing of your own work. Any use of the work that does not include an appropriate citation is banned.

If you are the owner of this work and don’t want it to be published on AssignBuster, request its removal.

Request Removal
Cite this Essay

References

AssignBuster. (2022) 'Music’s effect on society essay'. 13 January.

Reference

AssignBuster. (2022, January 13). Music’s effect on society essay. Retrieved from https://assignbuster.com/musics-effect-on-society-essay/

References

AssignBuster. 2022. "Music’s effect on society essay." January 13, 2022. https://assignbuster.com/musics-effect-on-society-essay/.

1. AssignBuster. "Music’s effect on society essay." January 13, 2022. https://assignbuster.com/musics-effect-on-society-essay/.


Bibliography


AssignBuster. "Music’s effect on society essay." January 13, 2022. https://assignbuster.com/musics-effect-on-society-essay/.

Work Cited

"Music’s effect on society essay." AssignBuster, 13 Jan. 2022, assignbuster.com/musics-effect-on-society-essay/.

Get in Touch

Please, let us know if you have any ideas on improving Music’s effect on society essay, or our service. We will be happy to hear what you think: [email protected]