Islamic Iran to start its own music TV channel, says website

Aug 28, 2011, 13:16 GMT

Tehran - Islamic Iran will start broadcasting its own music TV channel like that of MTV, restricted exclusively to Iranian music, a local website reported Sunday.

The Borna website reported that the Culture Ministry, which is also in charge for issuing permits for books, scripts and films, has granted permission for the Iranian-only music private broadcaster.

The new channel titled 'Iranians' is to become Iran's reply to the foreign music channels abroad, especially those with Persian pop music, which Iranians can watch via illegal satellite dishes and receivers, the report said.

The new music channel is scheduled to be aired within the next three months, added the Borna website report.

The Culture Ministry has not yet confirmed the report.

The ministry has its own criteria for permitting music in Iran and for many people it is not always understandable why some music genres are prohibited and some others are not.

For example, the sale of music from some of Western artists is prohibited, even though some passages of their music are frequently played on Iranian state-run TV.

The Iranian pop music is dominated by Persian artists abroad, mainly in Los Angeles which is also the city with the biggest Iranian community abroad.

The so-called 'LA music' by Iranian artists is prohibited in Iran but easily available in the black market at a price of less than one dollar.

The artists in Iran who are approved by the Culture Ministry play more and less the same music as in LA but the lyrics are different and for example do not deal with themes like girls and boys in love, but instead with mysticism and old Persian poems.

The Iranians channel will only broadcast video clips of permitted artists - and only of male vocalists since women are not allowed to record songs in Iran.

Since the 1990s Iran has tried to prevent Iranians from watching satellite TV programmes, on numerous occasions using police raids. But for the last two decades the efforts were in vain and the majority of the estimated 75 million Iranians have satellite reception in their homes.

Also forbidden in Iran are Western pop and rock music as well as movies. But all of these are also easily available in the black market for prices ranging from one to two dollars.

Permitted are however Western instrumental music, some jazz genres and albums by some singer-songwriters who have found approval by the Islamic cultural watchdogs, among them Cat Stevens, Leonard Cohen and Chris de Burgh.