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NEWS
06 April 2004

Singer 'strips' over censorship
Alanis Morissette wore a "nude suit" on stage at Canada's equivalent of the Grammys to complain about censorship in the US.
Morissette, who was hosting the Juno Awards in Edmonton on Sunday, wore the cartoon-style bodysuit in protest at TV and radio censorship in the US.

Story from BBC

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Clear Channel: September 11 & Corporate Censorship
Corporate censor no. 1, or just the market leader? A collection of articles on Clear Channel - including the debate on the infamous list of 'potentially offensive songs', which Clear Channel suggested its 1.300 radio stations not to play following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US
01 December 2002
Kris Kristofferson
Video interview with American folk singer Kris Kristofferson about his personal experiences with music censorship in USA - and in Russia
31 March 2008
Musical responses to 9/11: List of allegedly 'banned' songs
A list of "lyrically inappropriate" songs banned from some US radio stations in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks in 2001
09 December 2004
Independent record labels unhappy with Sony – BMG merger
Small record labels fear more corporate control: "This merger is not about economic necessity in a changing market, it is about the desire to dominate and to control the outlets at media and retail level”
20 July 2004
Rapper Jadakiss Blames Bush for Sept. 11
"Why" - the new single by US rapper Jadakiss, with the words "why did Bush knock down the towers?" - has gotten him the most mainstream attention, and criticism, of his career. MTV and several radio stations are playing the edited version
16 July 2004
Eminem to start censorship-free radio station
Eminem has personally come under fire many times for his lyrical content, with the FCC even penalizing radio stations for daring to play his music. The yet-to-be-named channel will feature Eminem and other artists hosting shows uncut and uncensored
12 July 2004
Spot buys: The new payola?
Focus on the history of payola, including the current debate in the U.S. on record labels purchasing overnight advertising time at radio chains and using the time for repeated play of singles
05 July 2004
Shoot the Singer! Book
"Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today". The first worldwide presentation of contemporary cases of music censorship, with cases from i.a. Burma, Mexico, Middle East, France, Algeria, Zimbabwe, USA, South Africa, Turkey. Edited by Freemuse director Marie Korpe, published by Zed Books, May 2004.
25 May 2004
Singer 'strips' over censorship
Wearing a "nude suit" on stage to complain about censorship in the US, Alanis Morissette criticised a radio station for forcing her to change strong language in one of her recent songs
06 April 2004
Clear Channel adopt new decency standards
Clear Channel Communications Inc. has adopted new "decency" standards to make sure that material its radio stations air conforms to local community standards.
27 February 2004
The day protest music died
Pop music played a crucial role in the national debate over the Vietnam War. By the late 1960's, radio stations across the country were crackling with blatantly political songs that became mainstream hits
05 March 2003
Zimbabwe: Radio programme about music censorship
Radio programme about music censorship in Zimbabwe - with radio manager K. Nyoni, lawyer K. Phulu, poet A. Nyathi, and radio presenters R. Moyo and S. Mkhithika
07 June 2007
USA: Record label accused of boycotting song
Famous rapper Master P believes that Sony BMG are placing phone calls to radio stations across USA, demanding that his son’s single not get played and negotiating “no-play deals”
11 May 2006
USA: The US rock group Pearl Jam’s anti-Bush statement censored on webcast
Parts of a Pearl Jam live concert webcast was left out by the main sponsor AT&T. When the lead singer sang “George Bush, leave this world alone” transmission was interrupted
15 August 2007
USA: Dixie Chicks' triumph over censorship: Five Grammys
It was a victory over censorship and death threats when Dixie Chicks 'swept' the most prestigious honours in the global music calendar, the Grammy Awards
12 February 2007
3rd Freemuse World Conference on Music and Censorship
200 professional musicians, scholars, and composers from 22 countries met at the 3rd Freemuse World Conference on 25-26 November 2006 in Istanbul, Turkey
18 December 2006
USA: Dixie Chicks film about censorship censored
The American tv-network NBC and the CW Television Network has refused to air ads for the new Dixie Chicks documentary, ‘Shut Up & Sing’
30 October 2006
USA/UK: Media giant claimed to threaten British music
“Texan media firm Clear Channel Communications is increasingly casting its shadow over the music scene in Britain,” writes Granville Williams
23 February 2006
Freemuse report on censorship in post 9/11 USA
’Singing in the Echo Chamber’. Music censorship in the U.S. after September 11. New report published by Freemuse
13 February 2006
USA: Rock superstars censored for their lyrics
On February 5, 2006, rock music veterans The Rolling Stones were censored during their performance at the Super Bowl - one of the most-watched events on US tv
10 February 2006
Wal-Mart is sued over rude lyrics
The parents of a 13-year-old girl are suing US supermarket giant Wal-Mart over a CD by rock group Evanescence that contains swear words. Wal-Mart has a policy of not stocking CDs which carry parental advisory labels
11 December 2004
Musical responses to 9/11: From Conservative patriotism to radicalism
This article poses the question: What would a suitable American popular music response to the events of 9/11 sound like? Read the chapter by Martin Cloonan, from the book "9/11 – The world's all out of tune"
09 December 2004
Beenie Man banned from MTV gig
Reggae star Beenie Man - recently accused of "lyrics that are an incitement to homophobic murder and violence" - has been banned from performing at an MTV concert after gay activists planned a protest over the singer's past lyrics
04 September 2004
Venue expels Linda Ronstadt after political remarks
The singer was booed and removed from a Las Vegas casino for praising film-maker Michael Moore and his film Fahrenheit 9/11 during a show. Ronstadt called Moore a "great American patriot" and "someone who is spreading the truth"
20 July 2004
Elton John attacks new 'era of censorship' in America
The British singer has attacked what he calls a McCarthy-like "era of censorship" in America. Entertainers who speak out against the Bush administration or its policy on Iraq, he claimed, risk scorn and damage to their livelihood
17 July 2004
USA: 'Crash into me, baby!'
America’s implicit music censorship since September 11. Read the chapter from 'Shoot the Singer!', by Eric Nuzum on how the September 11 terror attacks have affected freedom of musical expression
03 June 2004
Singer Lee Jones attacks Bush
American singer Rickie Lee Jones has attacked the policies of the Bush administration on her latest record - despite the potential risk to her career. “I usually reflect things totally internally. But I think what is happening in America is so disturbing to me, it becomes internal”
07 January 2004
Viva Corporate Control!?
European independent music companies slam Universal’s alleged payola deal with Viva to guarantee video-time for Universals’ artists in return for payment
12 December 2003
American radio station bans Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull is off the play list of a classic rock station after the band's frontman criticized displays of the Stars and Stripes
13 November 2003
Chuck D/Public Enemy
Censorship, MTV and political music in the US. Video interview with Chuck D from Public Enemy
16 July 2003
Music during wartime
An extensive collection of links to articles related to how the war on Iraq affected freedom of musical expression - from American country albums being burned to the rise in protest music
10 June 2003
USA: What if they gave a culture war and nobody came?
Extensive article on the history of music censorship in the U.S., detailing the occasions when judicial and legislative authorities have focused attention on popular music as expression
28 January 2003
Public Enemy vs MTV
MTV will not show the video for 'Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need'
14 October 2002
9/11: Is protest music dead?
Music used to be the dominant voice against war. Now it's easier to shut up and get paid. What's really going on? Extensive article on 9/11 effects and media concentration, by Jeff Chang
16 April 2002
John Adams banned in Boston
Because of the September 11th terror attacks, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has decided to cancel "The Death of Klinghoffer", the both emotionally and politically sadly relevant John Adams opera
25 November 2001
CNN "Worldbeat": A Victim Of Terrorism
Another TV music outlet has gone as a side-effect of the September 11th terror attacks
13 November 2001
Militant Mind State
"Money Censors" The two rappers Spread Love (Omar) and M2 (Jaryd) from Militant Mind State (US) interviewed by Daniel Brown/Freemuse at Roskilde Festival, July 2001
12 September 2001
Patti Smith
From Tibet to the US: Video interview with Patti Smith on the importance on free musical expression
17 August 2001
Wal-Mart: Market censors and market mechanisms
Background information on the biggest retailer in the US. Some Wal-Mart retailers refuse to carry CDs with the Parental Advisory Sticker, a few also go so far as to boycott artists if there is a 'dirty' word, a 'controversial' cover, or 'explicit' lyrics
01 February 2001
The Market and Media Censors - panel debate
Panel discussion at the 1st Freemuse World Conference on Music and Censorship in Copenhagen in 1998 with Noam Ben-Zeev, Gerald Seligman, and Martin Cloonan.
01 January 2001