Danish Dari German Spanish French Turkish 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
News stories world-wide
About music censorship
About Freemuse
Publications
Study room
Activities
Links
Press room

WAR

Protest singer Earle blasts US war
The US singer - whose song about so-called American Taliban John Walker Lindh provoked major controversy in the US and resulted in US media calling him "unpatriotic" and even "a traitor" - is set to release an album which criticises the Iraq war
17 August 2004
Music during wartime
An extensive collection of links to articles related to how the war on Iraq affected freedom of musical expression - from American country albums being burned to the rise in protest music
10 June 2003
Sudan: Censored singer tries to reform Janjaweed 'hate singers'
While struggling with censorship in Khartoum, the Sudanese singer-songwriter Abazar Hamid hopes to bring peace to Sudan with his music, reported Stephanie McCrummen
24 June 2008
Iraq: Religious restrictions cause singers to flee
Iraqi singers are fleeing the country after dozens have been killed by Islamic radicals determined to eradicate all culture associated with the West
20 May 2008
Germany: New archive of music which the Nazis silenced
Center for Ostracized Music aims to recover and revive the forbidden musical voices from the Nazi regime in Germany 60 years ago. Currently it holds 400 works of 50 ostracized composers.
29 February 2008
Iraq: Musicians and music listeners get killed
Musicians, music shop owners and music fans flee from death squads of Islamic extremists in Baghdad. It is no longer safe to sell music in central and southern Iraq
20 March 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
Iraq: 75 singers killed
The Iraqi Artist's Association said that nearly 80 percent of the country's singers have fled the country and that at least 75 singers had been killed since the invasion of Iraq in 2003
29 November 2006
Kamilya Jubran
Video interview with the Palestinian artist Kamilya Jubran who lives in Israel. She talks about music making and distribution in the shadow of regional conflict
30 October 2006
USA: Anti-Iraq war rock song claimed blacklisted by US government
American rock musician Mick Star claims that his anti-Iraq war song 'Jets' is not getting air time due to pressure on radio stations from the White House
25 October 2005
Musical responses to 9/11: From Conservative patriotism to radicalism
This article poses the question: What would a suitable American popular music response to the events of 9/11 sound like? Read the chapter by Martin Cloonan, from the book "9/11 – The world's all out of tune"
09 December 2004
Musical responses to 9/11: List of allegedly 'banned' songs
A list of "lyrically inappropriate" songs banned from some US radio stations in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks in 2001
09 December 2004
US school talent show draws Secret Service
The band, named Coalition of the Willing, was to perform Bob Dylan's song "Masters of War" – but some students and adults who heard the band rehearse called a radio talk show Thursday morning, saying the song the band sang ended with a call for President Bush to die. So the Secret Service was called
12 November 2004
'Kill Bush' rappers rapped by US
Gatans Parlament - a Norwegian rap group that criticised US President Bush by setting up a website whose name means "Kill him now" is in trouble with US authorities. Gatans Parlament, or Street Parliament, has defended the exercise as a satire
04 November 2004
Cat Stevens denied access "on national security grounds"
US officials identified that the singer, whose name is now Yusuf Islam, was on one of their "watch lists". After an interview, the singer - who converted to Islam in 1977 - was denied entry into the US
22 September 2004
The world's all out of tune: Popular music after 9/11
"9/11 – The world's all out of tune. Populäre Musik nach dem 11. September 2001". New book - in German - on music after September 11, out October 2004
14 September 2004
New US study on cultural exchanges since September 11
U.S Homeland Security and State departments are encouraged to "work together to improve the current visa situation…so it is less of a barrier for foreign visitors, artists, and scholars, and for the presenters who invite them"
10 September 2004
Elton John attacks new 'era of censorship' in America
The British singer has attacked what he calls a McCarthy-like "era of censorship" in America. Entertainers who speak out against the Bush administration or its policy on Iraq, he claimed, risk scorn and damage to their livelihood
17 July 2004
USA: 'Crash into me, baby!'
America’s implicit music censorship since September 11. Read the chapter from 'Shoot the Singer!', by Eric Nuzum on how the September 11 terror attacks have affected freedom of musical expression
03 June 2004
Shoot the Singer! Book
'Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today' is the first worldwide presentation of contemporary cases of music censorship
25 May 2004
Singer Lee Jones attacks Bush
American singer Rickie Lee Jones has attacked the policies of the Bush administration on her latest record - despite the potential risk to her career. “I usually reflect things totally internally. But I think what is happening in America is so disturbing to me, it becomes internal”
07 January 2004
American radio station bans Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull is off the play list of a classic rock station after the band's frontman criticized displays of the Stars and Stripes
13 November 2003
Making Marx in the Music: A HyperHistory of New Music and Politics
Classical music and jazz seem to have a more long-term, measured, even sublimated approach to political protest, slower to react and more deeply embedded in the structure of the music itself
07 November 2003
Roskilde Festival 2003, Damon Albarn on music censorship
Damon Albarn, Tony Allen and Ty on self-censorship, corporate censorship, censorship in Africa, and music during wartime - video excerpts from the Freemuse organized press conference on freedom of musical expression, Roskilde Festival 2003
26 August 2003
Damon Albarn: Music is destroyed by censorship
The record industry exerts a covert censorship, which makes it difficult for musicians to express themselves freely, was the message from Damon Albarn, Tony Allen and Ty at the Roskilde Festival 2003
01 July 2003
The day protest music died
Pop music played a crucial role in the national debate over the Vietnam War. By the late 1960's, radio stations across the country were crackling with blatantly political songs that became mainstream hits
05 March 2003
USA: What if they gave a culture war and nobody came?
Extensive article on the history of music censorship in the U.S., detailing the occasions when judicial and legislative authorities have focused attention on popular music as expression
28 January 2003
Eritrea bans Ethiopian songs
Bar and music shops owners have been told not to play Amharic music in public
21 January 2003
Clear Channel: September 11 & Corporate Censorship
Corporate censor no. 1, or just the market leader? A collection of articles on Clear Channel - including the debate on the infamous list of 'potentially offensive songs', which Clear Channel suggested its 1.300 radio stations not to play following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US
01 December 2002
9/11: Is protest music dead?
Music used to be the dominant voice against war. Now it's easier to shut up and get paid. What's really going on? Extensive article on 9/11 effects and media concentration, by Jeff Chang
16 April 2002
U.S. Funding Effort to Preserve Afghan Music
US preservation grant launched a project to record the music of Afghan musicians now residing in Pakistani refugee camps
11 January 2002
Denmark: Censorship on music during the German occupation
Mr. Hans Skaarup's speech at the 1st Freemuse World Conference on Music and Censorship in 1998
01 January 2001
UK: Britain at War
Mr. Martin Cloonan's speech at the 1st Freemuse World Conference on Music and Censorship in 1998
01 January 2001
UK: Britain at War
Extensive article on how music was "restricted" during the Falkland and Gulf war, with focus on UK legislation and corporate censorship. Presented by Martin Cloonan at the 1st World Conference on Music and Censorship, 1998
01 January 2001