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In 1324 John XXII issued the papal decree Docta sanctorum patrum, which banned more rhythmically animated music. This decree was printed and was recognized as legally binding.
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In 1519, the priest Desiderius Erasmus banned "obscene love songs." He said that these types of songs were fit only for the dances of harlots and minstrels that had made their way into the House of God.
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In 1562, the Council of Trent issued a decree that banned many works that may be deemed obscene. This decree was issued because authorities wanted to protect the purity of the people of the church.
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This act prohibited “the use of obscene, indecent, or profane language on radio," and was extremely significant because it was one of the first major acts that was related to radio censorship, and it would eventually lead to the establishment of the Federal Communications Commission in 1934.
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The purpose of the FCC was to monitor interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. They had to ensure that most communication was monitored so that illegal and obscene material was not broadcast.
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In Memphis in 1948, police officers went around to record stores and confiscated or destroyed music that they deemed too obscene. This was a much more violent method of censoring music than previous events in America.
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Broadcast Music Inc. is a performing rights organization that collects license fees for musicicans and pays royalties to them. BMI was created in the 1930s, and by the 1940s most musicans relied on them for licensing. In 1955, BMI denied licenses to over 100 songs because their content was objectionable, effectively censoring them.
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Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time in 1956 and while not censored on what he could say, he was filmed from the waist up because his style of dancing was deemed offensive.
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Dylan was set to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1963, but hours before his performance, he was asked to play a different song than the one he had planned on performing. Refusing to change songs, Dylan left and never appeared on the show.Surprisingly, Dylan gained more popularity than he likely would have if he performed because people like that he had acted as a rebel and counter-culture hero.
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The Doors were also set to perform in 1967, and were told they needed to censor the line "girl, we couldn't get much higher" from their song. They agreed but performed without changing the line. The shows producers were outraged and they were blacklisted from the show.
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The Rolling Stones had been on the show several times, but for their 1967 performance they were asked to change some of the lyrics in their song "Let's Spend the Night Together." Unlike Dylan, they agreed to censor the lyrics while on the show.
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Hendrix was set to perform two of his songs on BBC, but after the halfway through the second song he decided to play a version of "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. His performance was cut off and he was subsequently banned from BBC.
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During a Jerry Garcia interview on a Pennsylvania radio station, mentions to sex were made. The FCC fined the station, and this event was significant because it was the first time the Radio Act had been used to punish a station.
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During the 1978 case Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, the Supreme Court argued whether the FCC could censor indecent material. The court ruled five to four that the FCC had the power to censor things that were deemed indecent but not obscene.
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Formed in 1985, the PMRC was created to fight against obscene music. Tipper Gore was offended by a Prince album her daughter had, so she formed the organization with three other women and they were responsible for the parental advisory sticker that's still on albums today.
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When the first Gulf War began, the BBC decided to ban 67 songs from being played on the radio. They believed that the songs were offensive and upsetting to the public so they removed them from radio stations.
