Of the four required chapters this week the one that particularly caught my interest was that on the topic of recordings and the music industry. As an avid listener I found the evolution of the medium to be interesting. The technological advances have brought us so far in the past 100 plus years, from wax cylinders to recreating music using circuits and combinations of 0’s and 1’s. Rodman begins this chapter with a brief history of recording technology and technological advances ad moves into more complex topics such as the distribution of recording, and how music labels work. He then works his way into the topic of censorship which is constantly swirling around the recording industry.
The topic of censorship, as Rodman says, means many different things to many different people. Some see it as the protection of our nation’s youth from content that would possibly warp their minds and cause unspeakable damage. For others censorship is simply something that holds back the naturally progression of art. Many artists seek to push boundaries for the sake of art and censorship puts a restriction on this forward motion.
The question in all of this is how can we decipher which music is art and which music is to be kept away from young children. Our current system of monitoring puts parental advisory stickers on cd’s with explicit content. However, this rule does not apply to downloaded music on the internet, especially if the content is obtained illegally. Many kids these days have their own computers, and download their own music from programs like Limewire and Kazaa. The question of how to keep kids from downloading content which is unsuitable for them is one that is nearly impossible to answer. Is it in the hands of the parents to monitor their children 24 hours a day? Or is it in the hands of the government to see that the content is never released in the first place?
3 comments:
Censorship is always a highly disputed topic. I do believe that music and the images music portrays do influence lfestyle and behavior of youths as well as adults. Although censorship should not be a means to stop the se images from being portrayed. Censorship should not be used no matter if it is censoring the most obnoxious primevil lyrics. Censorship would not work or should work in the modern age of internet. People should be educated so that the music one wishes to censor is no longer seen as the norm but simply studied and mocked.
I like your take on the topic of censorship. I didn't know that parental advisory stickers are on CD with explicit content. I think a right answer for censorship is in the hands of the government because music downloading companies would not take any act unless they are in danger of lawsuit or bankrupcy. Also, some parents are behind the technology...they don't know how their children get harmful content.
I cant decide either about the limitations of musical lyrics and censorship. One side of me says that we need to protect kids from violent language, explicit sexual content and the like, but the other side says, "What can we really do to stop it?" No matter how hard parents try or how hard the government blocks it, kids are still going to be exposed to it. I feel it's like putting a piece of gum over a crack on a dam...it might work for a little while, but eventually the water is going to break through. From going to school and talking about it with other kids, to the Internet, to T.V, and the radio, one way or another kids will be exposed. It's like a catch 22, you don't want to hurt the progress of artistic expression, but at the same time you don't want to taint the lives of young people. So what should be done? Who knows???
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