Præsentation af Freemuse på danskPresentacíon de FreemusePrésentation de FreemusePresentation in Arabic
Click here to go to start page Click here to go to start page
Search Sort content by country/region Sort content by artist Sort content by subject
About music censorship
Artists on censorship
About Freemuse
Publications
Study room
Activities
News
News 2007
News 2006
News 2005
News 2004
News 2003
News 2002
News 2001
Links
Press room

NEWS
24 April 2007

Iran:
Six musicians arrested

Authorities in Iran have reportedly detained at least six members of underground music bands during the past week and shut down their studios, Radio Farda reported.

According to the radio station, at least two detainees who were taken into custody on 19 April 2007 have been freed on bail after pledging not to distribute illegal compact discs of underground music.

In Iran, the authorities have deemed rock music contrary to the Islamic Republic's moral code. In December 2005, Ahmadinejad banned all Western music from state-run TV and radio stations, threatening a reversal of reforms made under his more liberal predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, who was widely seen as responsive to the demands of the younger generation.

Censors keep a close watch on the domestic arts scene, but nevertheless, many young Iranians find their way around the ban to listen to Western music, and some unsanctioned Iranian acts have developed their own underground styles of rock and hip hop.



Sources

Payvand.com – 23 April 2007:

'Iran Cracks Down On Underground Music'

The Telegraph – 5 April 2007:

'We're from Iran - and we want to party'

Go to top
Related reading

Iran: Organiser of music concerts executed
On 4 August 2008, 28-year-old Yaghub Mehrnahad, a education activist and concert organiser, was executed, reported several human rights groups
21 August 2008
Iran: Setar master openly critised ban on women vocalists
Musician Mohammad-Reza Lotfi said at a press conference that he wishes to eliminate Iran’s prohibition on solo vocal performances by women
28 April 2008
Iran: Organiser of music concerts sentenced to death
The death sentence on civil rights activist Yaghub Mehrnahad highlights how many Iranians must live with the risk of execution for expressing their views
19 February 2008
Iran: Official campaign against rap music
Iranian police have been instructed to close rap studios in an official nationwide campaign to stamp out "obscene" rap music, reported Agence France Presse and BBC News
04 December 2007
Iran: Musician bypasses censorship on the internet
To Iranian artist IO the publishing of his new album is a victory over censorship. He could not have it published in Iran, but now it is available world-wide via the internet
27 September 2007
Iran: 'Rap-e-Fars' – Persian rap and the Iranian rap scene
Although the Persian rap, 'Rap-e-Fars', is illegal in Iran it is very popular among Iranian teenagers. An article about the underground Iranian rap scene
17 September 2007
Iran: Daniel Pearl: Status of music in Iran 2000
Link to an article in which Daniel Pearl describes the status of music in Iran in 2000. He interviews the Iranian pop singer Alireza Assar and composer Fouad Hejazi
04 September 2007
Iran: About 230 people arrested during a ‘satanistic’ music event
As part of an annual summer crackdown on “immoral behavior” about 230 people were arrested during a police raid on an underground rap and rock concert
07 August 2007
Iran: Gradual changes through modern technology
The daily pan-Arabic newspaper Ashark al Awsat reports that changes are introduced gradually among the citizens of Iran – despite official bans and censorship.
04 July 2007
Freemuse: Religious fanatics a threat to music
Freemuse presentation at the IASPM conference for popular music researchers from the whole world - in 2007 held in Mexico City
27 June 2007
IASPM Conference 2007: Speech by Ole Reitov
Freemuse presentation at the IASPM conference for popular music researchers from the whole world - in 2007 held in Mexico City
27 June 2007
Middle East: Dossier on music, bans and censorship
The internet portal Qantara.de has produced a dossier entitled 'Middle Eastern Musical Worlds'. It includes issues of music bans and censorship in the Islamic world
16 May 2007
Iran: Prohibition of music in holy city
In a speech in official Friday praying on 11 May 2007 the Imam of Mashhad banned practicing of music and ordered to close all of the music institutes in the holy city
15 May 2007
Iran: 'Half Moon' - film about women's right to sing
'Half Moon' is a prize-winning feature film which talks of women's right to perform in public, and to participate in the artistic development of a land
25 April 2007
Iran: Six musicians arrested
Authorities in Iran have reportedly detained at least six members of underground music bands and shut down their studios, Radio Farda reported
24 April 2007
Signature song for Music Freedom Day 2007
Recorded for Freemuse and the Music Freedom Day, the song 'Navai' features the Iranian singer Marjan Vahdat in a musical collaboration with the British guitarist Jason Carter
06 February 2007
3rd Freemuse World Conference on Music and Censorship
200 professional musicians, scholars, and composers from 22 countries met at the 3rd Freemuse World Conference on 25-26 November 2006 in Istanbul, Turkey
18 December 2006
Iran: No more music download
A ban on high-speed internet will make it more difficult to download foreign music which the authorities blame for undermining Islamic culture among the younger generation
19 October 2006
Iran: ’Unveiled: Art and Censorship in Iran’
Excerpt from Chapter 8 in the report ’Unveiled: Art and Censorship in Iran’ published by Article 19 in September 2006. Chapter 8 is about music in Iran:
05 October 2006
Iran: Report about art and censorship in Iran
“Artists self-censor in fear of risking harassment, arrest, flogging, or worse still, imprisonment,” stated a report about art and censorship in Iran published by Article 19
05 October 2006