Censorship In Music (Final Hand In)

Examine:

- Politics

- Technology

- Censorship on music making and consumption in iran and iraq

- Examine music in middle east.

- Examine the effect on music making and creation

- Take technology to account

- Compare to situation in UK

- What is the function of music in both societies? (what role does music play in the society, how does it effect the society and what does it do to society).

- How has political leadership affected musicians, and how has it effected general music listeners in the middle east. 

- How did things change after the revolution in the middle east

- What do you think might happen under the new leadership.

Intro:

The politics in Iran and Iraq compared to the politics here in the UK are very different. I will analyse how life is in Iran and Iraq is and the life in the UK. Both countries politics are very different, how?

UK:
In the UK the life is quite laid back, we have the freedom to make any career we want happen, and we have the government to allow us to study whatever we want with schools, colleges and universities. But we have to to take our GCSE'S, that is the only exception, the GCSE'S in the UK is very important and every child has to study in school for many years till they get to the age where they are ready to take it and when they have to take it. Usually teenagers take their GCSE'S when they get to the last year of secondary school 'Year 11', when they are the age of 15-16. The process is a child joins primary school at around the age of 5 or older and they get introduced to different subjects but the main subjects is maths,English and science, so they study these three subjects joined with other subjects, and as years go by the work gets harder and the knowledge gets more advanced. When a child finishes primary school at the age of around 10/11 they then have to move on to secondary school, just before they turn into a teenager, and then in secondary school they have to really study maths, English and science to a high level so by the time they get to year 11 then can take their GCSE'S and get the best grades they can. The GCSE'S are forced to be taken because the knowledge the children get as they grow up can help them with future jobs. After a teenager finishes secondary school they get to move on to college to study a course of their choice so they can start studying for their career in that course. But the GCSE'S will help them get into colleges. After college they have a choice to move on to universities, but universities are very hard to get into, depending on your grades and course you have to have the right grades and experience to be able to get into a good university. The reason how children/teenagers have the freedom to do this process is because the government helps with finance so they can go ahead and study. But most of the time people have to pay but the government helps the student with finance if they have trouble paying.

The politics in the UK give children and teenagers the freedom to study and to live a happy life, so with the freedom they get, and the studies they get, over the years they will come to grips what career they would like to achieve. For example I decided to take music as my course for college, I knew I wanted to do music because over the years from a child to a teenager, I always had the freedom to sing and perform musical theatre shows, so with that experience I knew I wanted to explore music and thanks to the government I had the freedom to go ahead with this career. I have the freedom to play music whenever I want, I get to experience performing at many different venues, Watching different styles of genres perform at gigs in public venues. I also get to practice at home, and attend lessons for my musical instruments. In the UK we get many professional and fast working technology that helps us with research. As long as you can afford the internet and you sign up for a contract, your internet is unlimited and it works really fast. Here in the UK we have lots of public shops where we can purchase musical instruments so we can buy for ourselves to practice at home, or to purchase for a school/university of music. Where you find schools for music you will find many technology for music. Going deeper in music and going into music production like producing, recording artist's, DJ-ing, you can find lots of shops or online purchases to purchase the technology you need in able to go ahead with music performance or music production/technology. The amount of help and technology we have here in the UK is countless. And to this day the technology develops, even as I write this. Religion in the UK is not a problem and we do not force people to believe in any religion. The government here is open to it and let people have the freedom to live with their religion and open up churches or synagouges or mosks for people to attend at and invite people to come in to them. Let people open shops for their religion where people can purchase religious items and clothes etc. There is countless religions and the government does not judge any of them and lets them live their life in piece. The security here is not over the top, they let people live in a calm atmosphere but if they see danger they approach it but they do not make a big deal where everyone has to panic, they approach the suspicion or crime in a professional and suitable manor. So that is how people in the UK can dress how they want and date who they want, go wherever they want at any time they want. But like the whole world should have is morals and limits. Because without morals and limits the world will be out of control. It is getting hard to get people to live calm and respectful lives, but school and educated and mature parents or youths can change that by teaching people as they grow up how to save the world from going out of control. And they can teach how to talk to people in a suitable manor, approach a place in a suitable manor and finally respect people for who they are and not judge people and let them be. Another thing I think is important to talk about, is how people in the UK can travel to other countries and even live there with suitable rights, in general it is not easy for someone to just automatically live wherever they want in the world, but with some money and rights they can move out of the UK freely without major problems. I think I have expressed enough how the life here in the UK is very straight forward and everyone can have a calm life in the way they want it but with limits.

Music wise all of us here in the UK have the freedom to practice with our bands at home or in a booked rehearsal space, We have easy access to technology to help us with the specific act we are practising for, and to help us with research or technology as in a laptop and internet for backing tracks and to play songs we can get inspired from etc. Here in the UK everyone can listen and play whatever music style they want. But if anything in a song is offensive to anyone or a big amount of people the government might consider to give a punishment or a warning. In the UK the social media is really big because everyone is connected to facebook and people use their iphone apps like instagram to post pictures. There is countless social media websites and apps people in the UK have easy access to. Even though everyone has a right to practise their music or musical act wherever they want, there is places where you have to consider rules of being noisey, rude and disrespectful to the venue or house hold. So you have to respect the rules being given and not be to loud, and most venues will close around a suitable time before midnight so people can go sleep, but if you have the right to stay at the venue then you have to respect people will be sleeping so they would have to practise in a suitable noise level. This applies to home rehearsals as well because at home if you are living with you parents you would have to respect their privacy and practise to a certain time and as it gets closer to the time you have to stop rehearsing, you would have to get quiter. There is some neighbours who will call the police if there is too much noise coming from the house over 22:00 or 23:00 pm at night. Music making in the UK is made in many sorts of ways, but the music that is made in the UK is either influenced on love, depression, sex, hate, strength and power and many more, but there is no label to what people have to write, they just make music about anything and whatever they want in whatever style they want.

Iran:

In Iran the life is different because the government is based on religion, and there was a revolution in the middle east, and life for people living there seemed to get harder after the revolution, all because of religion, the religion they believed in influenced how they felt about life, and what they needed to do in life. By this I am talking about social media, how people dress, where people go, difference between men and women became a problem, like women had be housewives while the men go and work hard, giving women not very much freedom, and judging them on what they do. Life in Iran is very restricted. When I found out about the social media in Iran I was overly shocked. In Iran what they watch on T.V, or what film they watch is very limited, you would not find people in Iran watching different genres of film like horror,comedy, Romantic films etc like you would see in the UK where they would watch loads of different genres of films. In Iran you would not find people having the choice to go cinema and have a choice of different genres of films to watch, in Iran they have to make films about specific things and need to go to the government in Iran to make sure it is okay to make and publish. The internet in Iran is very hard to get access to, if you would want to download music or anything else from the internet in Iran it would take hours or days, not like in the UK where it would take seconds, and maybe minuets, but in the UK downloading music or anything else would usually take seconds to download, depending on the internet you own. The point is internet in Iran is not something everyone has the freedom to turn to when they have free time, they need to be able to afford it, and even if you can afford the internet, the connection would be really hard to access it would not be fast, it would be worthless to use basically. This is because people in Iran have to even borrow internet from outside their area or country, this is because of the government, the internet does not interest them and they do not think it is useful, so they don't give easy access for people to buy it easily and use it easily like in the UK. The big suprise to me was how people in Iran are limited to make music, they can't make rock, jazz, pop, hip-hop music, they have to usually make music that is about religion and that suits the religion. They are really limited to what they have to play, and where they get to play. In Iran it is not like in the UK where they have the social media to influence people to make music in a specific genre, like is said the internet there is very limited. In Iran they do sell limited kind of instruments, but if anyone would hear you playing something usual to them and that is not in the style Iran allows, they would arrest you and either keep you in jail or to extremes kill you. People in the middle east are very violent and the war between Iran and Iraq influenced the violence. A story of a guy who lived in Iran and created a indie rock band, told us how he started as a bass player, but did not have the freedom to play bass whenever he wanted, he had to hide himself and find a safe place to practise his base, when the band was created they would find a place to rehearse but people lived underneath the rehearsal area, so they would have to get someone they trusted to keep a look out for them, so when the people downstairs would come back they would have to stop playing and pack everything just in case they would get caught and get arrested. They wanted to move out of the middle east to another country so they could start a music career, but unlike in the UK they could not escape easy, they needed to find someone who sold passports and visa's and leaving rights, but it cost a lot of money and was very hard to sort out, but once they were able to escape, the escape was very hard work and very scary because for people who are raised and are living in Iran it is not a choice to leave, they would need to be very rich and have the rights. Once the band left Iran they heard from a friend in Iran that if they came back they would be in big trouble, So he advised them to stay where they were and start a life there. A friend had to go back to Iran and he was arrested and was in A lot of trouble. As you can tell in Iran the life is very hard, and to make music and money or get any freedom is very very hard. The government are not as understanding as the government in the UK is. The government in Iran is very strict and are very stubborn. The religion is an influence with how they dress, how they talk and what career they have. Jobs in Iran is hard too, Iran is an overall poor country but there is the good areas but it is very rare.

The Joy Of Disco

The music industry is a really big deal in the world, because it influences society and everyone uses music for different reasons. Disco was a big evolution for the music industry and society, it changed peoples thoughts, the way people dress, the way people act and treat one another. I will now analyse how disco effected and changed the music industry hugely.

Before disco was created there was a big problem with homosexuals. Homosexuals was treated like unequals, lower class people, people bullied homosexuals and thought there was something horribly wrong with them. Homosexuals had enough of this behaviour against them and created the stonewall riots where they spoke out and was violent against the police raid. The stonewall riots was created in June 28th 1969 in the morning hours, the riots was outside of the stonewall inn in new york. The gay community went to extreme to start the riots, because they did not have access to places and they people looked down on them like they did not belong anywhere, if anyone was to figure out they were gay they would get arrested, in some countries they would threaten to kill gays and in extreme cases they would kill. Black people around this time were being treated unfairly too, the same with homosexuals they would be excluded from places and be looked down on. This is why they started the riots, they had ENOUGH!.

After the stonewall riots disco was created in the 1970's when homosexuals started getting their rights to live. Disco gave them the freedom to be who they are and express it with the music and dancing along to it, when disco was created it was not well known and was being played at not well known clubs where homosexuals and black people and people who felt similar to their emotions would meet up at these clubs and express themselves, dance together and have a good time. It was like their new home where they felt comfortable and felt freedom. Around this time there was so much limitation, the same gender could not be seen together dancing or having a unusual good time together. So at these unknown clubs boys and boys would be able to hang out together and dance and the same with girl on girl. Now a days it is normal for girls to dance with girls and boys to dance with boys but in a friendly way.

At the clubs everyone would dance together, take drugs together, and because disco music had influence of expressing yourself and talking about sexual pleasure, a lot of people of get on with each other on the dance floor or off the dance floor. There was drugs involved and people would sell drugs illegally and had to hide from the police in the clubs, but the clubs had a general freedom atmosphere. Literally people would go crazy and did not care about what happened around them.

Women before disco were limited to live how they wanted, their reputation was to stay at home clean up and cook food for their families, they did not have the same rights as men, where men could do what they like and say what they like, men had their rights for a lot of things where women didn't. Women started feeling limited and it was getting unfair. Disco gave them the freedom to open up, be more confident and express themselves, women artists in disco started singing about sexual pleasure, and to publish their album covers and music videos, they would take naked photo shoots or sexual poses with not much clothes, this helped their fame and gain them money because guys and even girls would get attracted to it and want more. Disco influenced everyone to be more sexual, seek sexual pleasure, dress with not much clothes and be very revealing.

Here is an example:

In this video you can see a perfect example of donna summer wearing a long safisticated, sexy dress and the song is talking about sexual pleasure and also the moans she adds in the songs are very extreme but empehsises the song and helps you have a good understand of the sexual vibe. The dancing is outgoing and funky and the backing dancers are 3 girls and 1 boy. The boy shows it doesnt matter what gender they can enjoy themselves and have fun. The costume they are wearing which is sequins shows the unusual and outrageous exploring in disco and gives the disco feel because disco is generally a funky and outrageous genere.

In this example The lyrics in this song is talking about the situation with the gay community and the riots, they are talking about they do not care who they are and what they are, they are surviving and they will stay alive. They are saying that you can do whatever but we will not be taken down. The clothes they are wearing are very not men like they are a bit unusal and tight which shows a big disco influence because the gay men in the community would wear tight clothes and wear unusal clothing a bit similar to what they are wearing in the video.

Here is my last example for music that was created when disco first started. In this video you can see they are confident, they are having fun, moving about, clapping, and having a good time. That is a good influence of disco, the way they are having fun and vibing to the song.

In the music industry now, what artists did when disco first came out, where they would sing about sexual pleasure and having fun and making explicit videos and photo shoots, still goes on today but you could say much more worse where it gets uncomfortable and over the top. Artists now a days got huge influence from disco, the confidence,being outrageous, over the top outfits, not wearing many clothes, singing about sexual pleasure and love which has not changed because everyone talks about love from a long time ago. Hip - hop came around a couple years after disco, and with hip - hop they had influence from disco but hip - hop tend to talk about violence, life and emotional stuff. But now in the music industry even though there is other different genre artist's, a majority of the music industry make happy, funky, sexual, club like songs. Songs where you want to dance, songs that influence you to be confident and outrageous and to be yourself, and sexual pleasure which seems to be getting worse and worse in the music industry. 

Here is some examples of recent artists who were simple and normal and then turned into sexual, outrageous over the top artists.

Old Rhianna (2005)

Here you can see it is a good feel song and video, rihanna showing of her stomach, and looks cute but sexy too. You can see she is getting everyone to come and dance with her, and the lyrics are 'Come mr DJ will you turn the music up', so it is a very good example of influence of disco, the vibe of good times and everyone dancing together at the club, this song and video is just way more modern, modern clothes, influence of hip - hop in the song. 

Rihanna NOW (2014):

You can see a HUGE difference from the first video, hardly any clothes on, looks like a stripper, grinding on the chair, other girls in bikinis dancing really sexually and pole dancing. The reason i chose this example is because you can see how from being a cute girl singing about dancing in a club and telling the DJ to turn up the music, has done to this video where she is half naked grinding, whining, other girls whining and pole dancing, it is explicit and way more mature from the old rihanna. You see how she decided to use her body and sexual dancing to sell her image for fame and money and ever since she started getting this over the top people got interested and it not only gained her fame it earned her a lot more money. So like in disco times where women started coming out of their shell and singing about sexual pleasure and selling their body for attention and money, is the same with rihanna starting off as a innocent and cute singer, to basically an artist singing about over the top, adult sexuality and money. 

There is so many more examples of artists who started of Innocent then started selling their bodies for fame and money and trying to change their reputation so people do not see them as a little girl and see them as a mature and grown women. Disco really influenced this idea because of how disco was expressing gay community and the gay community started feeling some freedom and confidence and expressing themselves and countless of ways. Then women started feeling okay i want to express myself too and open up and get some right, and over the years it started getting worse.

The politics now in the music industry do not really bother about what artists do, they allow things to happen but only if something is offensive they will do something about it, but now the generation is so free to a certain limit, the music industry just develops more and more and gets more free. From the politics in the the 19th century to now the development was from the politics being so strict and creating limitations for people where people felt worthless and limited to do things, people go judged easily, it caused fear and worry. But now in the 20th century the politics are more understanding and allow way more freedom. But it all depends on the country, some countries are still really strict and limited. Every country should have morals and restrictions but not to the point where people cant live their live calmly and freely. 

Even though now the music industry is more free and artist can more or less do what they like with their image, it still makes some audience feel insecure and want to be like them, so they would follow the steps of the famous artist to be like them, and some people thanks to the freedom of this generation really go to extremes. They wear nearly the same clothes as them, act like them and create a similar image so they don't feel worthless and insecure. That is the bad thing about what disco did, even though it created freedom and equal rights in this world, people now a days go to far, and dress outrageously, speak a certain rude matter, do all sorts of sexual things. It is getting bad to the point where even little girls from the age of 10 - 12 are getting influenced from their older sisters, or from just seeing images and films. 

Without disco the music and society we have today would never of been this way or even existed, disco changed the world so much with the rights to speak out, dress the way you want, look the way you want, speak the way you want, be in a relationship with whoever you want, sing the way you want, sing about whatever you want. Disco took away no limitations in how you live and how people are seen, they made images of people free and equal, they created a mutual feeling where everyone is equal and we all can get along and have a good time. Homosexuals and black people were the main things that allowed disco to be created, because both communities were excluded and were looked down on and were treated unequally, so disco made things equal and as disco grew the more people were interested and got influenced to do the same. 

The difference between punk in the UK to disco in the US, punk is known for outcasts and underdogs, the main and well known words for them, the outcasts would be known to have no job and be poor. The culture of punk and the music is dark, grunge, heavy, violent, aggressive, expressive, screamo. But disco was known to be fun, outgoing, unusual, flashy, over the top, sexy, sassy. Disco would be much more lighter and happier then punk which is heavy and aggressive. 

Without disco the idea of accepting someone for who they are and letting them do what they need to do would never exist. Religion plays a part in judging people and outcasting people, which is why the politics allowed both religious and non religious people live their live in piece and both live their life the way they want to. Disco made things fair between people, between the politics and the environment.