Response: Commit the Crime, do the TIME!

Response to Diana's post:

http://dianaferlenda.blogspot.com/2011/03/commit-crime-do-time.html

Diana,

I enjoyed reading your post! This is definitely a topic I am unsure about… so I might as well spill my thoughts and blog about it!

Are musicians just artists or are they public figures? All musicians lie along a continuum measuring their status as public figures. On one end of the spectrum, there are musicians who create music for the sheer purpose of artistic expression. They don’t have articles published about them in the magazines and they don’t have to worry about the content of their lyrics based on who could potentially be listening to their songs. On the other end, we have artists like Akon and Eminem (like you mentioned) who are definitely public figures whose music reaches large audiences. It is these artists who are often criticized for any explicit content in their lyrics and are blamed when violent acts seem to parallel their music.

But, aren’t these “famous” musicians, who are now public figures, once artists creating music for the sole purpose of artistic expression too? How do we differentiate between those musicians who are allowed to say whatever they want in their lyrics and those musicians who should be more cognizant of their content?

On one hand, I don’t think it is fair that musicians who have “made it” should be expected to compromise the content of their lyrics because of people who might potentially listen to their songs. This takes away from the artist’s freedom in their expression and becomes less of an honest work of art. As discussed in class, Eminem was criticized for stating such violent fantasies in his songs, yet he claimed those songs served as an outlet for him to remain non-violent.

On the other hand, perhaps these individuals who are now in the public eye should realize they could potentially influence audiences through their music, so they should encourage positive messages, rather than controversial themes such as violence.  There is little to no regulation of who is able to listen to what music. Although radio stations have “clean” versions of songs, all they are doing is taking out explicit language, but leaving all the violent themes. Other media outlets such as online file sharing and iTunes have nearly no regulations on who is able to download and listen to explicit songs. So, perhaps it is now up to the artists to take responsibility for restraining people from listening to violent themes through music and shield those who are unable to differentiate artistic expression from reality.

There is definitely a dilemma between artistic expression and social responsibility. This is certainly something I will continue to question in the future.