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...Clare Boothe Luce (Fitzhenry, 84). Some parents are against the censorship of music. They believe that they should raise their kids, not some politicians who believe one nasty word will change a whole child's future. Many music artists have had other people attempt or succeed to sue them for their explicit lyrics and sexual content. 2 Live Crew was one of these music groups. In June of 1990, a Broward County judge in Florida declared that their album, As Nasty as They Want to Be, was legally obscene. (http://www.xyno.de/) 2 Live Crew's record was the first one in America to be deemed legally obscene although a Georgia appeal court later overturned this decision in May of 1992 (http://music.lycos.com/artist/bio.asp?QW=2 Live Crew and AN=The 2 Live Crew and MID=66486 and MH=). Some people believe that a label should be placed on albums by artists who have explicit content in their recordings. Others believe that the music should not be on the market for the public to access at all. Many believe that censorship should not be allowed at all because it infringes our first amendment right, freedom of speech. There are many groups and organizations who are trying to stop the censorship of music. One very prominent group is called Rock Out Censorship. Rock Out Censorship has been actively opposing the censorship of popular music since 1989. One platform they stick by, is they do not like the warning labels placed on albums to warn parents there is explicit material in the album. 'Rock Out Censorship's position has always been that these stickers do very little to warn parents, but do a lot to open the door to more restrictive forms of censorship' (http://www.theroc.org/). Rock Out Censorship has traveled and set up booths against censorship at many shows controversial and not so controversial groups and bands have played at. Some of these include Korn, Aerosmith, The Warped Tour, Nine Inch Nails, Green Day and many other tours and artists (http://www.theroc.org/). Rock Out Censorship has also had stage demonstrations in Washington D.C and has had petitions written to the Recording Industry Association of America asking them to get rid of the parental advisory warning system (http://www.theroc.org/). Rock Out Censorship believes that this system will lead to pieces of legislation that would criminalize the sale of 'controversial' music to minors. The magazine, Rolling Stone also had a negative response to the censorship of music. The first articles in Rolling Stone to speak out against censorship appeared in 1969. Similar to Rock Out Censorship, their articles focused on stickering, labeling and ratings. (Davidson and Winfield, 99) Rolling Stone also felt that the recording industry had given up and given in to the stickering and labeling and no longer would put up a fight. As said in the book, Bleep! Censoring Rock and Rap Music edited by Davidson and Winfield concerning Rolling Stone's response: 'Rolling Stone's anti-censorship sentiments included blatant disdain for the PMRC's actions with an editorial placed in the middle of the article. Detailing the 1985 Senate hearings, Rolling Stone stated, ''The Parents' Music Resource Center's proposal is unworkable and unnecessary and comes perilously close to censorship.' A three-page article, entitled 'At a loss for Words: Record Industry Acceptance of Stickering is Already Having a Chilling Effect,' was clearly an anti-labeling opinion piece. Rolling Stone argued that control efforts have a negative effect on the industry: 'The concessions [voluntary labeling] sound disturbingly like self-censorship. Who needs legislation if the record companies like Circles won't sell those albums to minors?'' In addition to Rolling Stone, other magazines have been voicing their opinions about music censorship for years. Wal-Mart is also a key component of some people's fight against censorship. 'Wal-Mart has a policy of not carrying any CDs that carry the notorious parental warning label (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/01.09.97/walmart-music-9702.html). Hit artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg are not carried at Wal-Mart because of the parental advisory warning label. When Hank Hoffman questioned why Wal-Mart would not carry CDs like this, a clerk responded, 'it's a family store, we don't carry other things that might bother people, like Marilyn Manson or Korn either' (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/01.09.97/walmart-music-9702.html). If Wal-mart does sell these albums, then they are heavily censored. The question is does it offend people that they do not carry albums such as these? For some Americans, Wal-mart is the closest thing to a record store they have. Some anti-censorship groups are even calling for people to boycott Wal-mart due to this infringement of the first amendment of the Constitution. Most often teenagers feel differently about censorship than their parents. They use music as an outlet and sometimes to rebel. It also helps them cope with some things. Music plays a big part in kids growing up. '...for teens, music becomes especially important, giving a voice to those unable to speak their feelings' (http://teenmusic.about.com/library/weekly/aa010801a.htm). As response to a national initiative conducted by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, music was number one. This came from more than 25,000 kids from ages 9 to 17 (http://teenmusic.about.com/library/weekly/aa010801a.htm). In fact, many musicians are involved in the Musicians' Assistance Program, through the recording industry's nonprofit treatment referral service. This program has well known musicians share their stories about how drugs hurt their friends and families, and how drugs damage a person's creativity (http://te...

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