Music censorship exists in many forms all over the world. Music can
influence and bring together large groups of people. Consequently, governments
and certain political factions tend to see musicians as a threat and try to
silence them through censorship, or exploit music to suit their own ideologies.
Music censorship is not a clear-cut issue, however.
Music has been acknowledged as a powerful medium throughout the ages. Even
Plato already spoke of “right” and “wrong” music. Stalin and Hitler employed
music to suit their own ideologies and vigorously suppressed all other uses,
since it could be utilized to manipulate the emotions of the people. In certain
places, music is still outlawed and subject to censorship and self-censorship.
Here are but a few of many examples.
In Cameroun the well known singer-songwriter Lapiro De Mbanga has been imprisoned since April 2008 and
is serving a three-year sentence for alleged complicity in anti-government
riots. See campaign of Freemuse.
The Taliban have banned every form of secular music; musicians and music
stores in Afghanistan and Pakistan are regularly the target of attacks.
In Iran, the government maintains a blacklist of banned musicians,
and women are expressly forbidden from solo-singing in public.
In Cuba, the rock musician Gorki Águila wound up in prison because he had
spoken out against Castro.
In Tibet the “subversive” musician Tashi Dondrup has been imprisoned. His album
Torture without Trace was a response to the crushing of the Lhasa riot
against the Chinese occupation in March 2008 (the album was banned in November
2009).
In many countries, heavy metal has been forced underground because it is
forbidden in public.
After September 11 and the 2003 Iraq invasion, US radio stations refused to
air music openly or indirectly criticizing American policy. The criticism of
President Bush expressed by the country music group the Dixie Chicks led to
intense public reactions and to the burning of their CDs.
Rammstein’s single and music video Ich Tu Dir Weh was released
internationally on iTunes in February 2010, in Germany live perfomances are
prohibited.
Organizations such as Freemuse do set limits on the musicians it supports.
Marie Korpe, director of the organization, says, “From the outset, we have
always taken our cue from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which means
we don’t support music that promotes hatred, like that of neo-Nazi bands, just
because we support freedom of speech. But we certainly don’t want to stifle that
discussion either. It is still an interesting one.” (ISonline, November,
2003)
What is music censorhip?
When government authorities silence musicians for political reasons, this is
clearly a case of censorship. But what if a radio station refuses to broadcast
music that might offend listeners? Or if airing certain music may be harmful
from a commercial perspective, or if it’s a question of self-censorship? Does
there have to be evidence of intent? These are questions we must ask in order to
clearly define this concept, questions that Freemuse also raises, even though
there will always be gray areas.
