music and silence – jo glanville digital revolution has posed the most significant challenge to the old order (as well as liberating access to music in authoritarian regimes). Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood writes about his band’s decision to release their last album digitally and escape the confines of traditional distribution.

This is the first issue of Index dedicated to music in more than a decade (‘Smashed Hits’ 6/98) and we’re delighted once again to be producing this edition in association with Marie Korpe and Ole Reitov of Freemuse. As the only organisation committed to supporting musicians who face censorship, Freemuse has been an outstanding champion of freedom of expression. Their article is a sobering account of the silencing of musical expression over the past 30 years. It includes a gripping description of the tactics used by the secret police in South Africa to destroy the career of musician Roger Lucey during the apartheid years. It’s a chilling reminder of the lengths that regimes will go to in seeking to control and silence free expression, in all its forms.

You can listen to a selection of some of the music chosen by our writers for this issue on Spotify and iTunes (www.indexoncensorship.org/music). We’re also delighted to include Chaza Charafeddine’s glorious portraits – in colour – from her new exhibition in Beirut. As always, you can follow daily censorship stories on our website www.indexoncensorship.org  

©Jo Glanville 39(3): 1/5 DOI: 10.1177/0306422010381549 www.indexoncensorship.org

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