During our time on the road I noticed a lot of censored songs on the American radio. Certain words are, for example, replaced by animal sounds or completely cut out. Most of the "modern" songs are affected by this censorship. This method is, rather, uncommon in Germany.
I searched on the internet about the music censorship in America and found the following interesting facts:
In 2003, several radio stations in America banned the group Jethro Tull from its program because singer Ian Anderson had said that he had enough from the U.S. flags in front of every house - they annoyed him.
The New York Police refused the security service for Bruce Springsteen after one of his concerts. The reason: He had played "American Sky" - a song about an African immigrant being shot by New York policemen.
The Dixie Chicks caused for a bigger stir: One of the group had expressed that she's ashamed that George W. Bush comes from Texas. Within a few days the music of the Dixie Chicks disappeared from the radio landscape. Band member Emily Robison received death threats, her estate was devastated. In Bossier City, Louisiana, CDs of the band were mowed down by a tractor.
In July 2004, singer Linda Ronstadt was expelled from a casino in Las Vegas after her concert. She had dedicated an encore to Michael Moore.
In August of that year, the Minister of Justice of Kansas confiscated 1,600 CDs including songs by Lou Reed and Rage Against the Machine.
Most affected of the censorship are musicians, whose lyrics are about sex. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), responsible for monitoring of the radio and television market, relies on the Radio Act of 1927: The broadcasting of obscene and indecent content has to be banned. Until 2001, the FCC defined the depiction of sexual activities as indecency. Then they expanded the definition to sexual innuendo. The punishment for violations was raised from $27,500 dollars to $500,000 dollars.
Life's not easy for musicians nowadays. What about their right to express their own opinion? Is it lost like the missing words in the song - replaced by animal sounds?
I searched on the internet about the music censorship in America and found the following interesting facts:
In 2003, several radio stations in America banned the group Jethro Tull from its program because singer Ian Anderson had said that he had enough from the U.S. flags in front of every house - they annoyed him.
The New York Police refused the security service for Bruce Springsteen after one of his concerts. The reason: He had played "American Sky" - a song about an African immigrant being shot by New York policemen.
The Dixie Chicks caused for a bigger stir: One of the group had expressed that she's ashamed that George W. Bush comes from Texas. Within a few days the music of the Dixie Chicks disappeared from the radio landscape. Band member Emily Robison received death threats, her estate was devastated. In Bossier City, Louisiana, CDs of the band were mowed down by a tractor.
In July 2004, singer Linda Ronstadt was expelled from a casino in Las Vegas after her concert. She had dedicated an encore to Michael Moore.
In August of that year, the Minister of Justice of Kansas confiscated 1,600 CDs including songs by Lou Reed and Rage Against the Machine.
Most affected of the censorship are musicians, whose lyrics are about sex. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), responsible for monitoring of the radio and television market, relies on the Radio Act of 1927: The broadcasting of obscene and indecent content has to be banned. Until 2001, the FCC defined the depiction of sexual activities as indecency. Then they expanded the definition to sexual innuendo. The punishment for violations was raised from $27,500 dollars to $500,000 dollars.
Life's not easy for musicians nowadays. What about their right to express their own opinion? Is it lost like the missing words in the song - replaced by animal sounds?
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