The formation of the fourteenth government under the leadership of Masoud Pezeshkian is underway. Despite not making any specific promises, expectations from his government are high. One of the cultural issues in the Islamic Republic is the music industry and the artists’ evasion of authority. The question arises: Can the Islamic Guidance regain its control over the country’s music? Is there even a will within the government to do so?
Cultural Challenges and Governmental Crises
Cultural issues, compared to other challenges the government grapples with, are not of significant importance. However, cultural actors are more defined, relationships somewhat transparent, and crises are less severe. Therefore, focusing on cultural issues might provide an indicator of the success or failure of governments in resolving governance crises in the Islamic Republic.
If we accept that the Pezeshkian government is forming in the wake of the Rouhani government, we must consider that, like the Rouhani government, with changes in the privilege system, rent transfers, or shifts towards the West, forces that have now emerged from behind the scenes and from under the shadow may take action. They may exploit the smallest openings in the music field to create tension in political arenas.
A few months before July 2015, which coincided with the nuclear agreement, the cancellation of music concerts in various cities of Iran became newsworthy. The conflict was between the police force and city public administration on one hand, and the Music Office of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance on the other.
Music concerts by Lian in Bushehr and Shiraz, Sirvan Khosravi in Bushehr, Emad Talebzadeh in Arak, Shahram Nazeri in Neyshabur, Aron Group in Mashhad, Erfan Group in Isfahan, and Mohsen Yeganeh’s concert in Urmia were cancelled due to police opposition.
In addition to this, the gender segregation of music concerts in some towns, such as Urmia, challenged the management of Pirooz Arjmand. The police force formed a council called the “Concert Council” and announced that from now on, this council and the police command in the towns will implement the plan for gender segregation in concerts: one night for men and the next night for women.
The Impact on the Music Industry
Rouhani, like Pezeshkian, had promised to leave the work to the experts and cultural affairs to its “people”. However, under pressure, Pirooz Arjmand, who had learned to play the three-stringed instrument from Dariush Safvat and Parviz Meshkatian, had to hand over the management of the Music Office to Farzad Talebi, a technocrat in the Islamic Republic.
At that time (July 2015), nuclear negotiations were bearing fruit and it was hoped that the ground for foreign investment would also be prepared. Cultural diplomacy was on the government’s agenda and in this regard, Ali Rahbari was employed to revive the symphony concert. However, the crisis-making of the opposing faction caused Rahbari to also leave Iran. This destructive dynamism can be reactivated at any moment with the smallest opening towards the West.The only achievement of the Raisi government in the field of policy-making for Iranian music is the approval of the “National Music Document”, the foundations of which were laid in previous governments. The National Music Document was opened in the first year of Hassan Rouhani’s government, with the aim of regulating music performances after 36 years of uncertainty. However, the fate of the National Music Document remained uncertain for years until it was finally approved under the leadership of Ebrahim Raisi. Despite this, the music concert of Alireza Ghorbani in Isfahan was obstructed for the fourth time, and the “Street Music Festival” in Bushehr, which was mostly held for local economic development, was cancelled due to security forces’ pressure.
Meanwhile, young musicians, especially those in the unauthorized branches of music, have gone underground and are releasing various works through social networks and sometimes with the help of some labels. Street musicians and cafe and party musicians have also not been idle. The question arises whether the Pezeshkian government can align some of these protesting artists with itself, and whether there is even a will on both sides for such alignment.
The reality is that music in the Islamic Republic is important not because of itself, but first because of its advertising aspect and second because of its income generation. The invitation to Moein to return to Iran after his very successful and popular concert in Istanbul also had an advertising aspect for the current government, and it is not unlikely that some people had made money by watching his concert in Istanbul.
In general, until the economy improves and the middle class regains its purchasing power, music is not one of the major challenges of the government. There is also no possibility of controlling self-made young music artists, especially considering the numerous challenges of the government.
This is a summary of original Radio Zamaneh content crafted with the help of AI, edited by a Radio Zamaneh editor. To read the original article, click here.
