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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Music and censorship – recommended reading
Last update 22 August 2007

If you are a researcher, a journalist or a student, we hope you will find valuable or useful background information here.

Please note that only a couple of the books listed below are about 'music censorship' as such. In most cases, music censorship and its effects is not the only issue of the publications.



By author's name, alphabetical:

Averill, Gage
A Day for the Hunter. A Day for the Prey.
The Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1997, ISBN 0-226-03292-2 (pbk)

Baily, John
"Can you stop the birds singing?" The censorship of music in Afghanistan.
Freemuse, Copenhagen 2001, ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Bennett, Tony; Turner, Graeme;
Shepherd, John; Al, Et (ed)
Rock and Popular Music: Politics, Policies, Institutions
Routledge, 1993, ISBN: 0415063698

Blecha, Peter
Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands & Censored Songs
Backbeat Books, 2004, ISBN: 0879307927
Order on-line, click

Breen, Marcus
Rock Dogs : Politics and the Australian Music Industry
Pluto Press, 2001, ISBN 1864030844

Bremberger, Bernard
Musikzensur, Eine Annäherung an die grenzen des eralubten in der Musik.
Verlag Schmengler, Berlin,1990, ISBN 3-9801643-2-2

Brown, Steven & Volgsten, Ulrik
Music and Manipulation
On the Social Uses and Social Control of Music

Berghahn Books, 2006, ISBN 1-84545-098-1

Cartwright, Garth
"A Little Bit Special" - Censorship and the Gypsy Musicians of Romania.
Freemuse, Copenhagen, October 2001, ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Chapple, Steve & Garofalo, Rebee
Rock´n Roll is Here to Pay.
Nelson-Hall. Chicago, 1977, ISBN 0-88229-437-7 (pbk)

Cloonan, Martin
Banned! Censorship of Popular Music in Britain: 1967-92.
Arena, Ashgate Publ. ltd. 1996, ISBN 1 85742 300 3 (pbk)

Cloonan, Martin and Garofalo, Rebee (ed)
Policing POP
Temple Univ Press 2003, ISBN 1-56639-989-0
Read more

Cloonan, Martin and Street, John
Politics and Popular Music - From Policing to Packaging
Parliamentary Affairs 50:2, pp 223 - 234, 1997

Cloonan, Martin
Popular Music and Censorship in Britain: An overwiew.
Popular Music and Society, 19:3, pp 75-104. 1995

Coplan, David B
In Township Tonight! South Africas Black City Music and Theatre.
Longman, London, 1985, ISBN 0-582-64401-3 (pbk)

Danielou, Alain
The Situation of Music and Musicians in Countries of the Orient.
Leo S. Olschki, Florence 1971, IMC

Davidson, Sandra & Winfield, Betty Houchin (ed)
Bleep!: Censoring Rock and Rap Music.
Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture, No 68, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, ISBN: 0313307059

Eyre, Banning
Playing with Fire: Fear and Self-Censorship in Zimbabwean Music.
Freemuse, Copenhagen, October 2001, ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Frith, S
Sound Effects.
Constable, 1983

Gaar, Gillian G
She´s A Rebel. the History of Women in Rock & Roll.
Seal Press, Seattle, Washington,1992, ISBN 1-878067-08-7

Garofalo, Rebee
How autonomous is relative?
Popular Music, 6:1, pp.77-92.
Edward Arnold, London, 1992

Grandin, Ingemar
Music and media in local life. Music practice in a Newar neighbourhood in Nepal.
Linköping University, Sweden, 1989, ISBN 91-7870-480-4

The new GROVE
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 19,
edited by Stanley Sadie
London.

Hakobian, Levon and Kantat HB
Music in the Soviet age 1917-1987.
Melos Music Literature, Sweden, 1998, ISBN 91 972133 4 9

Dietrich Helms, Thomas Phleps (Hg.)
9/11 – The world's all out of tune
Populäre Musik nach dem 11. September 2001

Beiträge zur Popularmusikforschung 32, hg. von Dietrich Helms und Thomas Phleps
Oktober 2004, 212 S., kart., 19,80 €
ISBN: 3-89942-256-2

Heylin, Clinton, (ed)
The penguin Book of Rock & Roll Writing.
Penguin Books 1992, ISBN 0 14 01.6836 2

Hill, Trent
The Enemy within: Censorship of rock music in the 1950s.
in Anthony DeCurtis (ed.): Present Tense, pp. 39 - 72.
Duke University Press, 1992

Horner, B and Swiss, T
Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture
Blackwell Publishers,1999, ISBN: 0631212639

Kagie, Rudie
De Verboden Saxofoon.
Over Muziek & Censuur
De Prom, Amsterdam 2000, ISBN 90 6801 653 9

Kitwana, Bakari
The rap on gangsta rap.
Thirld World Press, Chicago. 1994, ISBN 0-88378-175-1

Klein, Naomi
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.
Picador, USA, 2000, ISBN 0312271921

Korpe, Marie (ed.)
1st World Conference on Music & Censorship.
Speeches from the conference
Freemuse, Copenhagen, 2001, ISBN 87-988163-0-6
Online version available, click

Korpe, Marie (ed.)
"MUSIC WILL NOT BE SILENCED" 3rd Freemuse World Conference on Music & Censorship Istanbul 25-26 November 2006.
Speeches from the conference. Includes CD-ROM with video interviews and music.
Freemuse, Copenhagen, 2007, ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Korpe, Marie (ed.)
Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today
Zed Books, London, 2004,
HbISBN 1 84277 504 9
PbISBN 1 84277 505 7

Order on-line, click

Lippman, Edward A
Musical Thought in Ancient Greece.
Columbia Univ. press 1964. ISBN 64.22482

Manuel, Peter
Popular Musics of the Non-Western World.
Oxford Univ. Press, N.Y. 1988, ISBN 0-19-515342-7

Matoub, Lounes
Rebelle.
Editions Stock. France, 1995. ISBN ? 54-4440.1

Negus, Keith
Popular Music in Theory
Wesleyan Univ Pr; 1997. ISBN: 0819563102

Norris, Christopher (ed)
Music and the Politics of Culture.
Lawrence & Wishart, London 1989. ISBN 0 85315 700 6

Nuzum, Eric D.
’Singing in the Echo Chamber’
Music censorship in the U.S. after September 11

Freemuse, Copenhagen, 2005, ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Nuzum, Eric D.
Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America.
Quill, 2001, ISBN 0688167721

Oakley, Giles
The Devil´s Music, A History of the Blues.
BBC, 1976, ISBN 0 563 16012 8

Orman, John
The Politics of Rock Music.
Nelson-Hall, Chicago 1984, ISBN 0-8304-1025-2

Owen, Ursula (ed)
The Book of Banned Music.
Special issue of INDEX on CENSORSHIP, 6/1998:
Writers and Scholars International Ltd., London 1998, ISSN 0306-4220

Perris, Arnold
Music as Propaganda, Art to persuade, Art to Control.
Greeenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1985, ISBN 0-313-24505-3

Pieper, Werner (ed)
1000 Jahre Musik & Zensur in den diversen Deutchlands.
Der Grüne Zweig 206, Löhrbach 2001, ISBN 3-922708-09-9
Read more

Pieper, Werner (ed)
Verfemt - Verbannt - Verboten
Musik und Zensur. Weltweit.
(German version of Index on Censorship 6th 1998)
Der Grüne Zweig 206, Löhrbach 1999, ISBN 3-922708-00-5

Peterson, R.A
Market and moralist censors of a black art form: jazz.
In S.Denisoff and R.Peterson (eds.): The Sounds of Social Change, pp.236-247.
McNally, Chicago,1972

Qureshi, Regula Burckhardt
Suifi music of India and Pakistan.
Cambridge University press 1986, ISBN 0 521 26767 6

Reese, Gustave
Music in the Middel Ages.
W.W.Norton & Company, New York 1940

Schade Poulsen, Marc
The Social Significance of Raî. Men and Popular Music in Algeria.
University of Texas press, Austin, Texas, 1999, ISBN 0-292-77740-x (pbk)

Schwarz, Boris
Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia 1917-1970.
Barrie & Jenkins, London, 1972, ISBN 0.214.65264.5

Seim, Roland; Spiegel, Josef (ed.)
Nur für Erwachsene – Rock- und Popmusik: zensiert, diskutiert, unterschlagen
Münster 2004, 246 pages, coloured book covers, circa 250 colour pictures, format 24x19cm
ISBN 3-933060-16-8
Read more

Servant, Jean-Christophe
« Which way Nigeria ? »
Charia, argent, morale et autocensure : menaces sur la musique.
Français
Freemuse, Copenhagen, April 2003
ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Servant, Jean-Christophe
"Which way Nigeria?" Music under Threat: A Question of Money, Morallity, Self-censcorship and the Sharia.
English
Freemuse, Copenhagen, April 2003
ISSN 1601-2127
Online version available, click

Siegmund, Heidi
The Ice Opinion. ICE T as told to H- Siegmund.
St. Martin´s Press, New York, 1994, ISBN 0-312-10486-3

Street, J
Rebel Rock.
Blackwell, Oxford, 1986

Tsenova, Valeria, editor
Underground Music from the Former USSR.
Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997, ISBN3-7186-5821-6 (pbk)

Valkov, Solomon
Vidnesbyrd, Dmitrij Sjostakovitj´s Erindringer.
Forlaget Komma, ISBN 87-7512-065-8 (hft) 1980 Original: Testimony, The memoirs of D. Shostakovich
Harper & Row Publishers, 1979

Waterman, Christopher Alan
JUJU. A Social history and Ethnography of an African Popular Music.
The Univ. Of Chicago press, 1990 ISBN 0-226-87465-6 (pbk)

Wellesz, Egon
Ancient and oriental Music.
Oxford University Press. New York 1957. ISBN 0-19-316301-2

Winfield, Betty Houchum and Davidson, Sandra (ed)
Bleep! Censoring Rock and Rap Music
Greenwood Press, Westport, 1999, ISBN 0-313-30705-9

Wilson, Elizabeth
Shostakovich, A Life Remembered.
Faber and Faber Ltd, 1994 ISBN 0-571-15393-3



If you find that we have missed anything, please let us know! We update this bibliography on a regular basis.

Go to top
Read more:

Postscript to report on censorship in Zimbabwe
"Playing with Fire: Fear and Self-Censorship in Zimbabwean Music". Extensive Freemuse report, including case studies on Thomas Mapfumo and Oliver Mtukudzi. Read abstract and full report (PDF)
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
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
Freemuse report on music censorship in Zimbabwe
"Playing with Fire: Fear and Self-Censorship in Zimbabwean Music". Extensive Freemuse report, including case studies on Thomas Mapfumo and Oliver Mtukudzi. Read abstract and full report (PDF)
Radio Freemuse: 'Music censorship in Africa 2008'
Listen to or download a 15 minutes radio report explaining about music censorship in Africa today. Hear what the African musicians have to say themselves about the topic
Baktash Kamran
Video interview with the lead singer in Kamran Music Group. He speaks about his experiences with music prohibition during the Taliban period in 1996-2001
Nairez
Video interview with one of the singers who were forced to sing praisal songs for the Taliban regime. He speaks about his problems with music censorship in this period
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
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"
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