Muslim-majority Chechnya has imposed a ban on dance music deemed either too fast or too slow in an attempt to quash Western influences.
The ban, announced earlier this week, applies to all musical, vocal, and choreographic works not conforming to a tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute, authorities said.
Although it remains unclear how the law will be enforced, the move effectively prohibits most Western and international music from public performance due to its faster pace, including genres like trance, techno, samba, and waltz.
The ban reportedly followed a meeting between the republic’s Culture Minister Musa Dadayev and local and regional artists.
According to a report by the Moscow Times, Dadayev said that the decision aims to align Chechen music with the region’s cultural identity and preserve the heritage of its people.
“Borrowing musical culture from other peoples is inadmissible,” Dadayev reportedly said.
Artists have until June 1 to adjust music that does not meet the criteria, or it will not be permitted for public performance.
Ironically, The Telegraph noted that the new law also unintentionally bans the Russian national anthem, typically played at 76 BPM, as well as “Victory Day,” a popular Russian military song at 126 BPM.
Since assuming power in 2007, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has restricted civil liberties in the conservative, Muslim-majority region in the name of tradition and cultural norms.
Located in the North Caucasus, the semi-autonomous region has drawn attention in recent years for its severe persecution of minority communities, involving forced disappearances, imprisonment, torture, and extrajudicial killings of civilians based on perceived sexual orientation.