The government of Chechnya, which is a republic part of the Russian Federation, has established that from now on music composed within the country must have a rhythm between 80 and 116 BPM (beats per minute), and that all songs above or below this threshold will be banned.
As reported by Grozny Inform, a press agency linked to the Chechen government, the decision was taken last Thursday, during a meeting between Musa Dadayev, the Minister of Culture of Chechnya, and some associations of local musicians. Dadayev said he had agreed on the ban together with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, and that the aim was to ensure “conformity of musical, vocal and choreographic works” to the “Chechen mentality”.
He also wrote in a note that, by June 1, local musicians will have to “rewrite” their music to adapt the rhythm of their songs to the new directives, and that anyone who does not adapt their compositions by that date will not be able to perform in public.
It is unclear whether the ban will apply only to music composed in Chechnya or also to music produced abroad: in the latter case, ensuring its application would be particularly problematic and challenging, given that much contemporary pop music exceeds 116 BPM . It is not even clear how the ban will be put into practice, also because its complete application would require rather substantial efforts: for example, interpreting it in the most restrictive way possible, it would be necessary to verify all the songs uploaded to YouTube, a platform also accessible in Russia, in order to somehow prohibit the reproduction of those that are too slow or fast.
As head of Chechnya, a country he has ruled since 2007, Kadyrov is known for his repressive and anti-democratic methods and is accused of serious human rights violations; among other things, he is accused of having opened concentration camps for homosexuals. Since coming to power, Kadyrov has always supported the authoritarian regime of Vladimir Putin, for example by providing him with hitmen to kill his political opponents abroad, or by sending forces to help him in his military operations, including invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014.
– Read also: The Chechens fighting with the Russians in Ukraine
