THE BUCKLEY REPORT

Music Debated: The Buckley Report

Music Debated: The Buckley Report

Entry description

Over the course of time a significant degree of attention has been given to the manner in which the rock music industry has abused drugs. Numerous scandals and cases have come forth in which drastic changes have occurred. It comes as no surprise that this concern has led to the incidence of measures by the government. One such historically renowned event is The Buckley Report. The Buckley Report is cited as one of the most pivotal turning points for the music industry. Given the lack of information and context, based on the title some students have conflated the topic as concerning only one historical item, but there are in fact two: the "1955 debate" and The Buckley Report. Given the name Buckley, some have assumed this refers to the conservative author and commentator William F. Buckley, Jr. It turns out that the Buckley in question is former Senator James L. Buckley, who investigated the topic in Congressional hearings in 1973. This paper will shed light on the Buckley Report in an attempt to establish the role and relevance of the Buckley Report. In order to do so, the paper will also elaborate on the origins, implications and influences of the Buckley Report on the music industry.

Explanation

A preliminary investigation revealed that there is a strong deficiency in the data available on the Buckley Report. Therefore, the paper chose to make use of publications that dated back to the time when the incidents and investigations constituting the Buckley Report took place.

The Buckley Report came in the form of a hearing by former Senator James Buckley and the relationship between rock music and the drug epidemic. Buckley started his investigation during the summer of 1973 in response to a column in the New York Times by former Nixon aide William Safire. He accused Columbia Records and its parent company CBS of engaging in payola in the form of drugs to disc jockeys and programmers to promote records and acts.

Senator Buckley was concerned about the influence that rock music has on the youngsters in American society. He became concerned about the degree to which rock music was acquiring domination on the frame of mind with which younger generations in American society were being brought up. His perspective was respected because he went beyond the obvious to highlight the critical elements. In this regard, he considered it necessary to investigate into the youths' perspective so that the investigation could develop an understanding of the driving factors in the music industry.

The context of the Buckley Report can be observed in the news conference statement that Senator Buckley gave in 1973 when he asserted that drugs have become a dominating factor in the music industry; which now encourages senior executives in the industry to cover up drug riddled scandals. It is essential to note at this point that the investigation initially began as a probe into the payola issues in the music ...