Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and BSB banned in China

Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Backstreet Boys and others pose a threat to China, that country’s ministry of culture has determined.


China's Ministry of Culture has a blacklist, where you can find the names of some of the most famous music artist and their most loved songs.
Over 100 songs have been banned, for being in “poor taste” and “vulgar”.


Apparently, in China, the Ministry of Culture put out a list of songs that are illegal to distribute because they supposedly threaten the country's "national cultural security". 

Backstreet Boys

Six Lady Gaga songs made the list and Katy Perry, Owl City, Christina Aguilera, Simple Plan, Eminem, Beyonce, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys also garnered song bans. Other song also disallowed is "Jingle Bells". Oddly enough, the Batman remix of the popular Christmas tune is nowhere to be found.


Lady Gaga tracks, including “The Edge of Glory” and “Judas”, are cited, as well as Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night” and Britney Spear's “Burning Up”.


“Run the World (Girls)” from Beyonce is also prohibited from online distribution, along with “I Want It That Way” - a Backstreet Boys hit from 12 years ago.


A notice from the ministry said the songs had not been submitted for approval. A 2009 directive designed to tackle "poor taste and vulgar content" as well as copyright violations said all hosted tracks had to be cleared by officials.


The new announcement appears to apply to legal streaming and download services as well as illicit ones. It warned that unauthorised tracks – as well as unregistered sites – disturbed the online market for music and harmed national cultural security, adding that sites should carry out "self-inspection and self-correction".


Sites which do not remove the content before 15 September will be prosecuted, unless the songs are submitted for approval. Only their owners can do that.


How the officials picked out the 100 titles on the list remains a mystery. Although some are recent releases, the Backstreet Boys track is already 12 years old. Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" has lyrics about streaking in a park, drinking shots and a menage a trois, and Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" includes the implied profanity of the line: "We run this mutha". But other choices – such as the Backstreet Boys' hit or Britney Spear's "Burning Up" – are hardly racy. Most of the condemned songs are from Taiwan or Hong Kong – such as Yu Wenle's superbly titled "You Say I'm Too Handsome" – but Lady Gaga leads the field with no fewer than six banned tracks: "The Edge of Glory", "Hair", "Marry the Night", "Americano", "Judas" and "Bloody Mary".


Other outlawed titles by western artists include four by Canadian rockers Simple Plan, three by US electronic act Owl City and three by American singer-songwriter Natalie Walker.


Music sites cannot submit the songs for approval as only the owners of the material can do so. The ministry of culture did not respond to queries about the list.


This is the third year China has released a list of banned songs.


There is no published criteria for how a track gets listed, but the Chinese government insists that the content has to be cleared with them before music sites can post it.


Tracks by Eminem, Christina Aguilera and Kylie Minogue fell foul of a sweep by the ministry earlier this year. In April, officials said they would punish 14 sites that had provided illegal downloads. The ministry also controls events such as concerts. In 2006 it reportedly banned the Rolling Stones from singing such risque numbers as "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Honky Tonk Women" when they played in China – though apparently "Start Me Up" slipped past the censors.