Music censorship has been an ongoing issue in the US for the last fifty years or so. In 1951 radio stations banned Dottie O’Brians “Four or Five Times” and Dean Martins “Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am” because they thought that they were suggestive. Also during the fifties and sixties attempts were mad to censor R&B music. In 1953 six counties in South Carolina made it against the law to operate a jukebox within hearing distance of a church. In 1957 producers of the Ed Sullivan Show instructed cameramen to only show Elvis Presley form the waist up because of his “sexual” gyrations of his hips. From the sixties up until today many attempts to censor music have been made. In 1984 members of the Cincinnati PTA expressed their concerns over a prince album, which led to the RIAA’s universal parental warning label. Attempts have even been made to censor children’s music like the song “Puff the Magic Dragon” because puffing the magic dragon is slang for heroin use.There are many interest groups that are involved in music censorship. In the eighties the Tipper Gore group created the parental advisory sticker after one of her children brought home a prince album. In 1996 the Communications Decency Act states that music is not protected under the first amendment. Groups that believe in music censorship argue that no one should have to listen to music that they find to be offensive, which for them justifies music censorship. These groups seem to think that music needs to be controlled so that it won’t influence young children. The groups against music censorship argue that it is the parents’ responsibility and not the governments to keep their children from listening to obscene music. People should have the choice to listen to what they want to listen to. They argue that music should be protected under the first amendment because lyrics are a form of poetry ...
