In today's society, all types of music artists are
expressing their views, opinions and feelings in their
songs about what they see and what they know. This is on
of the great things about this country, the freedom to
express yourself. It is not fair, nor is it constitutional
that music should be censored in anyway. It is not only rap
music trying to be censored it is in all types of music.
They are taking away their rights and it isn't fair. As
reported in the New York Times. "Wall-Mart CD standards are
Changing Pop Music", Wal-Mart and other large department
stores sell CD's by your favorite artists which are not what
your favorite artists originally created. Some retailers
refuse to carry CDs with "Parental Advisory Stickers", a few
also go as far as to make it known to labels and artists
that if the CD comes to their shelves with a "dirty" word, a
"controversial" cover, or an "explicit" lyric it will not be
allowed on the shelves. Some of the artists include
Nirvana, Beck, John Mellencamp and the list goes on.
(Internet ultratnet) The most recent case involving Wal-Mart
and censorship, was the new Sheryl Crow album. A song on
the album which lashes the company for selling guns that end
up in the wrong hands as caused the company to ban the album
in stores. (Schruers 64) Delores Tucker, William Bennett,
Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Senator Sam Nunn held a press
conference in Washington D.C. The message: censor obscene
music and censor "pro-drug lyrics". These censors announced
their plan to pressure major record companies to discontinue
production of what they called "obscene" music and music
which contains " blatantly pro-drug lyrics. All of the CDs
targeted as "obscene" already carry RIAA Parental Advisory
Labels. Parents are already provided with the information
they need if they choose to monitor their children's musical
selections. Discontinuing pr...