Authorities in the Russian Republic of Chechnya have announced a ban on music that they consider too fast or slow.
Minister of Culture Musa Dadayev announced the decision to limit all musical, vocal and choreographic compositions to a tempo ranging from 80 to 116 beats per minute (BPM) at a meeting Friday, the Russian state new agency TASS reported.
“(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 said, according to TASS.
Under Kadyrov’s directive, the region now ensures that Chechen musical and dance creations align with the “Chechen mentality and musical rhythm,” aiming to bring “to the people and to the future of our children the cultural heritage of the Chechen people,” Dadayev added.
The ban will mean that many songs in musical styles such as pop and techno will be banned.
Chechnya sits in the North Caucasus region between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
It is an almost entirely Muslim republic, which includes part of Russia’s border with Georgia.
Kadyrov has been leader since 2007 and has used his time in office to stifle any form of dissent.