Forbidden Music in Iran: The Tension between Communism and Imperialism

Introduction: After the first importation of gramophone records, the Iranian government banned some music styles for the first time in 1931. In the 1930s, the government examined the lyrics of songs to prevent connection with communist ideology. On the other hand, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Iranian government banned some musical genres such as rock and later hip-hop, because since the Islamic Revolution, America and its cultural products were considered an imperialist power. 
Objectives: This article examines two periods in which the Iranian government banned some genres of music. First, the 1930s are considered. After the import of foreign gramophone records, the Iranian government prohibited some music styles for the first time in 1931. These regulations targeted recordings with communist content. The second period refers to the current musical life in Iranian society. "Musicians from certain Western European and American music genres, such as rock, hip-hop, and country, are not officially recognized and are not allowed to work due to the cultural policies in Iran since the Islamic Revolution, where America is considered an imperialist power."
Research Method: This article is considered a qualitative research study. Regarding methodology, the theoretical framework section is based on library studies. Data collection in the results section is based on fieldwork, ethnography, netnography, and library studies.
Results: Gramophone records can be considered as the dominant audio medium during the reign of Pahlavi I (1925-1941) because there was no national radio station in Iran at that time. Wide acceptance of these recordings in Iranian society led to regulatory measures by the government. The government was concerned about the expansion of gramophone records in Iranian society, so it intervened in the recording industry by setting up a regulation for it. With this, the government no longer allocated the affairs of the recording industry to the field of culture, but to the field of security. As a result, the recording industry came under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior and the police and was managed by them. Another set of regulations was approved by the cabinet on July 18, 1931. According to this regulation, recordings whose content was politically communist and socialist were classified as politically harmful and were prevented from entering Iran.
The place of music after the Islamic revolution is highly dependent on the place of music in Islam. The more stable the new cultural policy became after the revolution, the more the limitations of music life became. These restrictions were caused by some religious interpretations that considered music haram. In addition to religious reasons, these restrictions also had a political background. Western populist music was seen as a symbol of the modernized politics of the Shah's regime. After the 1997 presidential election, Iranian music, especially popular Iranian music, was transformed. At the beginning of the 21st century, pop music was a well-known concept in Iran's cultural policy. However, the genres of hip-hop, rock, and country were not recognized by Iran's cultural policy and were classified as imperialist culture.
Rock music, despite all the restrictions, managed to find some freedom in the late 1990s. But in general, it was not common for rock bands to get a publishing license. As a result, many bands abandoned their formal activities and instead used the Internet as a new way to connect with audiences. Rock music was undoubtedly famous among the youth in the 2000s. In this situation, cultural politicians implemented a new strategy. Music custodians in the government promoted an official rock scene in Iran that was neither strongly political nor critical. The protesting nature of informal rock music turned into lyrical and mystical content.
The roots of hip-hop in Iran go back abroad to an Iranian group called Sandy in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. Like rock music, the Internet also played a significant role in the spread of this genre of music. Iranian hip-hop music is divided into the following categories in terms of content and discourse: pleasure, street rap, radical protest, 6/8, critical-moral, Islamism, women's rights, and women's homosexuality.
The focus of this article on country music as a research topic about imperial music genres is because the author came across an album in this genre that was published on Instagram. Mehrshad Vafaei released the album "From the Lute Desert to Arizona" in 2019, which is remarkable, because this album was released unofficially. It is safe to say that no such album has been released after the Islamic Revolution. This album contains ten songs, six of which are in Persian. Mehrshad Vafai released this album in collaboration with American musician Jerome Parker Wells. This cooperation is culturally and politically significant. As a part of the Fajr Music Festival, Jazz American Animation Group was exceptionally present in Tehran in 2015. This is an unprecedented issue and no band from America had the opportunity to participate in this festival. In addition to this political dimension, the presence of the American music group in Iran also has a cultural dimension, which ultimately led to the cooperation between Mehrshad Vafaei and American musicians. This is another aspect of globalization based on the theory of Arjun Appadurai, which is based on ethnic and technological landscape. Mehrshad Vafaei plans to create a kind of Iranian country music. Globalization happened in the first album of Mehrshad Vafaei at the textual level. At the musical level, this issue is not recognizable. Mehrshad Vafaei faced plenty of opposition when releasing his album because country music was unacceptable to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The relevant commission, which evaluates applications for the release of albums in terms of music and lyrics, rejected the use of the "Country" name. They thought the word sounded too American.