China Is Making a Blacklist of Bad Karaoke Songs

Karaoke lovers in China are at risk of losing their favorite tunes to state censorship, as authorities move to create a blacklist of karaoke songs containing “illegal content,” such as those that could “endanger national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity.”

The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Tuesday announced a set of rules on what karaoke patrons could sing in order to “promote core socialist values and protect national culture and ideology,” a move in lockstep with the one-party state’s attempt to regulate all spheres of society to promote its political interests.

The blacklist will also include songs that “tarnish national honor and interests,” as well as tracks that “promote obscenity, gambling, violence, and drug-related criminal activity.” 

No specific titles have been named yet, but China has previously banned songs deemed obscene, including “I Love Taiwanese Girls” by Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog and “Don’t Want to Go to School” by mainland Chinese hip-hop duo X.J.K. 

The regulation, effective in October, asks that both karaoke venue operators and music providers establish self-monitoring processes in which songs and music videos can be screened for legality. The rules could affect almost 50,000 karaoke venues across China, each keeping a catalog of some 100,000 songs, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.

On social media, sentiments about the upcoming karaoke crackdown tend towards annoyance.

“It’s as if I will become a positive person if I sing a positive song. Or will I brainwash myself into becoming a positive person by singing a positive song 10 times?” read one of the top comments on Chinese microblogging site Weibo. 

“Are y’all living in the last century?” read another.

Many of the previously banned songs were hip-hop, a genre that has straddled the line between state crackdown and support. 

The Chinese authorities have backed hip-hop artists who promote official ideology to young people. In June, 100 Chinese artists teamed up to produce a rap song celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party and extolling the rise of China.

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