Chechnya “bans music that is too fast or too slow”

It has been reported that authorities in Chechnya have banned music that they consider to be “Too fast or too slow”.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS (per CNN), Minister of Culture Musa Dadayev said: “(I) have announced the final decision, agreed with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, that from now on all musical, vocal and choreographic works must correspond to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute.”

Dadayev added that the decision will ensure that Chechen musical and dance creations align with the “Chechen mentality and musical rhythm,” which aims to bring “the people and to the future of our children the cultural heritage of the Chechen people.”

The tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute is relatively slow, unlike the majority of today’s modern day pop music. This decision will rule out various western genres of music from being played in public.

Western raven and techno music, which tends to have a higher BPM, will also be banned from being played publicly under the new rule.

According to Sky News, the music ban was announced after a meeting between the republic’s ministry and local and regional artists. It was reported that artists have been given until June 1 to rewrite their music that does not comply with the criteria.

In other news, Chechnya has been a vocal supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has seen an influx of anti-LGBTQ+ violence in recent years.

Elsewhere, Russian president Vladamir Putin has reportedly tasked tech companies with creating a console to rival the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S.

According to Russian newspaper Kommersant (via ReadWrite), the Kremlin has ordered Russian developers to “consider the issue of organising the production of stationary and portable game consoles.”

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