ABSTRACT

This chapter provides a preliminary discussion of the rights protected under the international human rights framework that relate to the right to music, as well as an analysis of how they support this right. It focuses primarily on international rather than regional instruments and practice. Music is most often suppressed by states because of what are perceived as critical song lyrics, rather than the music itself. Songs have often and variously been used as a form of protest and dissent, commonly with the aim of focusing attention on human rights breaches. Music impacts profoundly on various aspects of life, and without it individuals, communities, and global society are diminished. The chapter concludes that the right to music is a composite right, interconnecting with several other rights and deserving of acknowledgement on its own terms within the international human rights framework.