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The culture ministry of the Russian republic of Chechnya has made a rule about what speed of music people can listen to. The ministry has banned songs that are too fast or too slow. It made an announcement about the tempo of songs allowed. It said: "From now on, all musical, vocal and choreographic works should correspond to a tempo of between 80 to 116 beats per minute." The new standard, which starts at 80 beats per minute, is much slower than a lot of modern-day pop music. However, the Russian national anthem is usually played at 76 beats per minute. There has been no word from the culture ministry about whether the anthem can be played. It seems likely the anthem will be an exception to the new rule.
The ban on music that is too up-tempo or too down-tempo is to protect Chechnya's culture and traditions. The Moscow Times said it was, "to root out any hint of Westernization". Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, said the ban was to make music, "conform to the Chechen mentality". He added: "Borrowing musical culture from other people's is inadmissible." Musa Dadaev, Chechnya's culture minister, said: "We must bring to the people and to the future of our children the cultural heritage of the Chechen people." Local artists have until June the 1st to rewrite their songs to follow the new tempo. People in Chechnya will no longer be able to listen to techno music, or many songs by Beyonce, Drake and Taylor Swift.
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