The Practice of Music Censorship

Music censorship has taken many forms in the past, but many forms are overbearing and generally ridiculous. Censorship comes in many forms. The practice of censorship is defined as “...the act of changing or suppressing speech or writing that is considered subversive of the common good.”(Merriam-Webster). Old forms of censorship included not allowing airplay, refusal of sale, and refusal of publishment. The major issue found with those that oppose censorship, is that they have no real grounds to address the problem sensibly. Most focus of censorship, however, is focused on the younger genres of music such as Metal, Punk, and especially Rap.

The structure/ practice of censoring “offensive,” lyrics during mid-song comes in different flavours and varieties. More of the modern efforts of censorship are less intrusive than the older ways of removing the “vulgar” lyrics. Although most instances of these coverings are more blatant, a list of them are easily compiled by listening to free and open radio sources. Valid ways of restricting the spread of obscene lyrics in the past includ...