CENSORSHIP IN MUSIC by: Ms. Brittany Dorsey

OBJECTIVES Students will study examples of censorship in music in order to discover what it is, in what ways it is used, and how it is regulated Students will discuss their feelings and ideas about censorship and personal experiences they have encountered with it MD Technology Teacher Standard: III. Legal, Social, and Ethical Issues - Demonstrating an understanding of the legal, social, and ethical issues related to technology use Music Content Standard: 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture

ANTICIPATORY SET Song that does not need censorship: "New Soul" by Yael Naïm [scroll down the page and play track #3]"New Soul" by Yael Naïm Song that needs censorship: "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem [scroll down the page and play track #8] "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What are some characteristics of the first, uncensored song? What are some characteristics of the second, censored song?

CENSORSHIP AND MUSIC Censorship is the act of altering words or statements in order to conform with and abide by the rules and laws of society In music, censorship is primarily implemented in music that contains words, such as songs, opera, or musical theater The two categories used to decipher musical censorship are profanity and politics

CENSORSHIP AND PROFANITY Curse words Racial slurs Group hatred Sexual material/innuendo Violence Example: "If U Seek Amy" by Britney Spears [scroll down the page and play track #6]"If U Seek Amy" by Britney Spears

CENSORSHIP AND POLITICS Against the President Anti-American - violence against America Anti-American - unsupportive, unpatriotic Example: "American Idiot" by Green Day [scroll down the page and play track #1]"American Idiot" by Green Day

HOW TO SPOT MUSICAL CENSORSHIP Logo is located on covers of albums with uncensored material Many “family friendly” (Target, Wal-Mart) do not carry uncensored albums Albums with this logo cannot be purchased by people under 17 years of age “Explicit Lyrics” discontinued use in 2001 Regulated by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

MORE EXAMPLES Song that does not need censorship: "Miami" by Will Smith [scroll down the page and play track #10] "Miami" by Will Smith Song that needs censorship: "Nothingtown" by The Offspring [scroll down the page and play track #8] "Nothingtown" by The Offspring WARNINGS: Censored and uncensored music is not limited by genre, instrumentation, gender, or race. While people under 17 cannot buy uncensored music in stores, it can be downloaded online via iTunes, LimeWire, and Napster. BE CAREFUL AND USE CAUTION!

RADIO-EDIT WORD COVERINGS Radios edit censored music using some of the following techniques: Bleeping - putting a "bleep" sound over the word Repeating - repeating the word before the censored word Skipping - skipping over the entire word Echoing - echoing the last word in the line instead of saying the censored word Disc scratching - using a scratched record to cover the word Blanking - omitting the word completely Backmasking - reversing the audio on the word

INDEPENDET LEARNING ACTIVITY DIRECTIONS Break up into groups of four. Rewrite the following lyrics using bleeping, repeating, skipping, and echoing to censor the bold words. Each person will read the original lyric and then the re-edited lyric. “My whole life feels like a war I don’t know what the heck I’m here for Suppose I’ll talk to my old friend Get out of this place in the end”

ASSESSMENT 1)True or false: Profanity is words and phrases that are deemed hateful and offensive. 2)True or false: Musical censorship does not apply to words that are politically disrespectful. 3)Which of the following is NOT an example of radio editing: bleeping, echoing, backmasking, highlighting 4)All of the following are considered profantiy EXCEPT: violence, racial slurs, burp noises, sexual innuendo 5)All of the following are considered political censorship EXCEPT: violence against America, curse words, anti President, unpatriotic 6)Who regulates censorship of music: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Recording Industry Association of America, National Endowment for the Arts, Music Educators National Conference

EXTENSION ACTIVITY DISCUSSION Talk about your own experiences with musical censorship, such as albums you own or have heard with/without censorship, performances you have seen that lacked censorship. How do you think censored albums are similar to R-rated movies? Reminder: only the student holding the drumstick may speak. Listen carefully to others and wait patiently for your turn to speak.

CLOSURE EXIT TICKET - Countdown Processing DIRECTIONS Spend one minute silently reflecting on what you have learned today. After the minute is up, write down your responses on the sheet and hold onto it until it is time to leave. 4 New Words That I Learned 3 New Facts That I Learned 2 Questions That I Have 1 Most Valuable Piece of Information

HOMEWORK Write a 1-2 page essay describing why you think censorship in music is a positive or negative idea. There are no right or wrong answers, just write about what you think. If you are unsure about how you feel, write about that and tell why. The only wrong answer is no answer at all.

WORKS CITED sm.researchport.umd.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/40602?q=censorship&search= quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit Naïm/dp/B0013LP86Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid= &sr=8-1 Eminem/dp/B00004T9UF/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid= &sr=1-4 Day/dp/B0002OERI0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid= &sr=8-3 Spears/dp/B001GO09MI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid= &sr=8-1 Offspring/dp/B0018OAPAW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid= &sr=1-1 Hits/dp/B00007E8UU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid= &sr=1-1