How is Wal-Mart a censor?
Wal-Mart decided to not sell any CDs that contained content that could be objectionable to some people in December 1996. This was huge, because Wal-Mart contributes to 9% of total domestic music CD sales.
The reason Wal-Mart took this direction, was because they wanted to make their store a "family friendly and family friendly corporation." Artists have had to clean up their lyrics and cover art to meet Wal-Mart's strict standards.
Does music affect the mind? (I.E. Can a person listening to violent music suddenly turn violent?)
Depends on who you ask. If you ask Michael Rich, who conducted a study of music and violence in 1998, he would tell you it does. He would say that "the combination of music and images is more potent than either alone. Music lulls and disinhibits, making it easy to suspend reality. The barrage of brief scenes allows images of violence and sex to be mixed in far more insidious ways than in a narrative drama."
However, if you ask Jill Rosenbaum and Lorraine Prinsky, who conducted a survey in 1987, they would tell you that their conclusion was that the content of a song is of minor importance to adolescents. Eric Nuzum, who is the author of "Parental Advisory" says that he "found that there's little -- and by 'little' I mean that there's evidence that shows that the kind of music you like will influence the way you talk, the way you dress, very superficial things."
The bottom line is: there is no scientific evidence that connects violent music to real violence.
Is music considered art?
Music is considered art in my opinion. It is a way of communicating and expressing one's opinion to the general public.
Some may say that music they consider offensive, rock and roll and rap music, is not art at all because it is of a lesser quality and is therefore a lower form of entertainment. This opinion relies of the musical taste of the individual and is too subjective to agree. |
