The tempo restrictions effectively ban most popular Western music in the region of Chechnya, if it wasn’t already restricted. | Image: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images
People partial to a shindig in the Russian republic of Chechnya are about to find their music options will be rather limited. The region is introducing a ban on tunes that don’t conform to the Chechen “sense of rhythm.” In a statement translated by The Guardian, Chechnya’s Culture Ministry announced last week, “From now on all musical, vocal and choreographic works should correspond to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute,” effectively criminalizing anything the region considers to be too fast or too slow.
The ban requires local artists to rewrite their music to comply with the restrictions by June 1st, or else they won’t be allowed to perform publicly. “Borrowing musical culture from other peoples is inadmissible,” said Chechen Culture...
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