Chechnya wants to protect musical culture with bizarre regulations

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Members of a Chechen dance group: “It is inadmissible to appropriate the musical culture of other peoples”

Photo: ? Maxim Shemetov / Reuters/ REUTERS

If the government of Chechnya has its way, the music heard in state institutions and radios should follow strict regulations in the future. As the Minister of Culture of the Autonomous Republic of the Russian Federation announced, in the future only songs with a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 116 beats per minute (BPM) should be played. Several media outlets such as the “Moscow Times” and “CNN” had previously reported on the bizarre regulation.

The regulation was determined at an "extensive meeting with the heads of creative state and municipal groups," the authority said in a statement. "I announced the final decision, which was agreed with the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov," said Culture Minister Musa Dadayev, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. "Sky News," she said, was "not permitted to appropriate the musical culture of other peoples."

Musicians were therefore warned to adapt their songs to the new government guidelines by June 1st. Otherwise they will no longer be allowed to be performed publicly.

The decision is intended to ensure that Chechen music and dance creations are in harmony with the "Chechen mentality and the Chechen musical rhythm." The aim is to “bring the cultural heritage of the Chechen people to the people and into the future of our children,” said Dadayev.

The ban primarily affects songs in musical styles such as pop and techno, which will no longer be allowed to be played in state institutions and radios in the Russian republic in the future. But another popular piece of music could also fall victim to the regulations: the Russian national anthem. At only 76 beats per minute it is too slow.

Chechnya has a predominantly Muslim population. Kadyrov presents himself as Russia's leading defender of the Islamic faith. Under his leadership, the region enjoys comparatively wide leeway from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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