Impact Of Music Essays - Grammy Award For Best Rap Album

Impact Of Music Fifteen people died on April 20th 1999. Two misunderstood teens went to school and killed 12 people and then themselves(Manson). On October 6th, 1998 a man was beaten, robbed and left tied to a fence. He died 6 days later(Boston). Both of these cases are a focus for something that no one would ever think could cause such harm. Music. Both of these have a focus of music and the negative impact that it has on the youth. Music is a way to express your self, an outlet for emotions and personal issues. It is also a place to force ideas and opinions on a mass of thousands. People can relate to it on many different levels. But who should be responsible for the actions it provokes? Should the artist or the parents? What can we as average citizens do? Some say that music should be rated and in some cases banned. One such person would be Tipper Gore. Back in 1985 she was listening to her daughters Prince album Purple Rain. The album contained a song ? Darling Nikki? about a woman who was ?masturbating with a magazine.? The song continued with a sexual tone. She felt this was not proper for her, or any other child to listen to. She and other concerned parents founded the PMRC ? Parent Music Resource Center. They wanted a standard rating system for all albums to alert parents of the content. Such ratings as ?V? for violence and ?X? for sex related (Holland). Many musicians fought against the PMRC. Artists like Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister) and John Denver fought for the case of artists' free speech. The result was not a standard set of ratings but one black and white sticker with the words, Parental Advisory Explicit Content. This was to be on all albums containing content not suitable for minors. The record companies would decide w hich album was to be stickered. Fifteen years later we are still arguing over free speech and what should be available to children and teens. The youth of America have many different forms of music to choose from. A large portion of youth's listen to rap or alternative music and most has an advisory sticker on them. But is this sticker doing anything? Youth are still being influenced by the themes and not so much the words that are being said. Many feel that the music has a great influence on youth. Most teenagers spend a lot of time listening to music. Studies have also found that music affects behavior. Was this what happened at the Columbine High School? Did the two boys listen to something and it told them to go and shoot someone? Maybe not directly but in some ways music has affected everything around them. It was said that at the time Marilyn Manson was a major cause of the problems. The boys dressed like him and listened to his dark music. Such music has a hate base to it, often telling of revenge and killing. He says in one song how he will make everyone pay(Jipping). This has a parallel with what the two boys were feeling, always being picked on by the other students. So the two do have some connection. Not saying that if Manson hadn't wrote what he wrote then the killings wouldn't have happened. In fact the two boys didn't even like Manson's music. This still does not excuse Manson for writing these lyrics. In his words he asks the question of whose fault it is. ? Throw a rock and you'll hit someone who's guilty, ? he said in a response to the killings in Rolling Stone Magaz ine. He also states ?We live in a free country, but with that freedom, there is a burden of personal responsibility.?(Manson) Where is his responsibility when it comes to hate music? Music has been found to directly relate to people and their behavior. Those who listen to negative themed music are more apt to behave in antisocial attitudes. Matthew Shepard died a horrible death that fall day. We know who killed him and we know why, it was a hate crime. Ignorance killed Matthew; did music play a part