Music News

Electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk have been denied visas necessary to perform in China because the group was once billed to be part of a Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington, D.C. 15 years ago.

Ironically, bad weather forced promoters to scrap the benefit concert and Kraftwerk never played, but Chinese Ministry of Culture censors are still upset the German act was among those set to hit the stage.

The ban means the band cannot perform at this year's Strawberry Festival at the end of April.

Rangoon authorities have announced that Thangyat songs and performances in the upcoming Burmese water festival, which is called Thingyan and starts on April 12, can only be performed with permission from its Thingyan Songs and Thangyat Scrutiny Committee.

The Mirror, a state-run Burmese language newspaper, reported that lyrics for all Thingyan songs and Thangyat must be submitted to the committee by March 22.

Thangyat is one of the oldest examples of Burmese folk art. Usually amusing and satirical, Thangyat combines poetry, dance and music and is sung to the beat of a traditional drum. It is frequently used to express public grievances.

A poster promoting a music concert featured an image of Rihanna, who was topless. Her nipples and most of her breasts were covered by her elbow and by text relating to the event.

Two complainants objected that the ad contained sexual imagery and was inappropriate for display where it could be seen by children.

ASA Assessment: Complaints Not upheld

Although it was clear from the image that Rihanna was naked from the waist up, the ASA noted she was presented in such a way that only a little of her breasts were visible and that her nipples were not shown. We further noted she was not posed in such a way as to accentuate her cleavage. We noted Rihanna was shown looking directly out at the viewer and considered that her facial expression was more challenging to the viewer than sexually suggestive. We considered that overall the image portrayed confidence and that it was not presented in an overtly sexual way. Although we understood some consumers would find the image distasteful, we considered that the ad was not unsuitable for public display or that a placement restriction was necessary to prevent the ads from appearing within 100m of a school.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code rules 3.1 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence) but did not find it in breach.

The heavy metal band, Cradle of Filth , has cancelled an upcoming gig in Shanghai after learning that the band has been banned from mainland China. A statement from the group reads:

Unfortunately, at this time, the cultural section of the Chinese government have decided that Cradle of Filth are unsuitable to play in mainland China and so we are currently banned from playing there.

Therefore, the show on Tuesday 30 April in Shanghai has had to be moved to Hong Kong. The new venue is Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (Kitec) in Hong Kong on April 30th.

No official reason was given for the ban.

Lil Wayne's record label has sought to expunge all traces of a Lil Wayne rap from the internet, after the family of a murdered civil rights icon complained about its derogatory reference to him.

The track in question is Future's Karate Chop (remix), on which Wayne appears as a guest. Pop a lot of pain pills, Lil Wayne raps. Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels/ Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till.

Airickca Gordon-Taylor, Till's cousin, said the lines were offensive not only to us, but to our ancestors and to women and to [the artists] themselves as young, black men . Till was only 14 years old when he was tortured and killed for reportedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi. His death, in 1955, was a galvanising moment for the US civil rights movement, and thousands of people attended his funeral. His killers were acquitted, but, protected by double jeopardy , later admitted to the murder without suffering any legal consequences.

The Emmett Till line has been cut from the official version of Wayne's track. Epic Records said in a statement:

We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's Karate Chop, which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics.

The Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, founded by Till's mother, is calling on radio stations to boycott Karate Chop (remix).

Chinese authorities have hardened their line on foreign musicians, after Elton John infuriated them by dedicating a performance to outspoken artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

Police arrived to interview the singer shortly after he announced that the performance, which took place in Beijing last November, was dedicated to the spirit and talent of Ai Weiwei .

The English language edition of state-run newspaper Global Times attacked John. It said the singer was disrespectful when he forcibly added political content to the concert , adding:

If they had known that this concert would be dedicated to Ai Weiwei, many in the audience would not have come.

John's action will also make the relevant agencies further hesitate in future when they invite foreign artists ... [He] has raised difficulties for future arts exchanges between China and other countries.

The singer's remarks even prompted the culture minister, Cai Wu, to demand that only stars with university degrees be allowed to play in China in future, but this way later played down.

The first all-girl rock band to come out of Kashmir has been forced to cancel their live shows after receiving rape and death threats on Facebook.

Award-winning Pragaash , which means light, have been targetted since December when they won a prize at their first public performance. Following the concert, comments appeared on Facebook from extremists who said the teenage girls should be raped and then drowned.

The threats seem to be a follow up to a fatwa issued by the Grand Mufti Bashir-u-Din. The mufti said that music is not good for the society and the girls should focus on inculcating better values. He further said that all the bad things happening in today's society is due to music.

The band members, Farah Deeba, guitarist Aneeka Khalid and vocalist-guitarist Noma Nazir, refused to talk on the issue but were reportedly shaken by the threats.

Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, is one of the most high profile people to speak out in support of the band. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has come out in support of the band He said:

Shame on those who claim freedom of speech via the social media and then use that freedom to threaten girls who have the right to choose to sing.

He added that police would look into whether any of the people found making threats can be charged.

An online petition and a twitter campaign against Indian rapper Honey Singh led to a New Year's Eve concert by him at Gurgaon's Bristol hotel being cancelled at the last minute.

The chart-topping singer also ran into legal trouble after a case against him was lodged against him with the police.

IPS officer Amitabh Thakur lodged the case against Singh on grounds of supposed obscenity for:

Extremely vulgar and indecent songs and that the rapper's misogynistic and deeply troubling lyrics described how woman could be sexually assaulted. This cannot be accepted at all, particularly when the country is mourning the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim and is outraged over increasing crime against women.

In Gurgaon, confusion prevailed at the venue gates. The crowd was still trickling in till as late as 9pm, even though the event management company that was organising the concert had confirmed much earlier that the show had been scrapped owing to the internet blackout in Delhi.

The Internet petition against Singh was started by Delhi-based writer Kalpana Misra, who believes the lyrics of some of his songs are pornographic, unacceptable, and grossly misogynistic. By Monday evening, Misra's petition had more than 2,500 online supporters. And all through the day, the social networking site Twitter was abuzz over the same issue, with Honey Singh's Gurgaon gig becoming a trending topic.

Update: Case filed

28th February 2013. See  article from  zeenews.india.com

A judicial magistrate court has directed the police to inquire into the alleged obscene lyrics of Punjabi rapper Honey Singh and asked them to file a report by April 4.

Sanjay Khera, a local resident, had filed a complaint under sections of IPC related to obscenity offences on January 3 against Singh demanding ban on his music albums. In the complaint moved through advocate Sandeep Sachdeva, Khera had claimed that Singh's songs were vulgar and obscene in nature, and not fit to be aired.