Brighton City Council are expected to introduce new rules which would essentially give the local authority the power to stop performances by controversial artists whose lyrics allegedly incite hatred of minority groups.
The move follows those long running protests by gay rights groups against a number of reggae and dancehall artists who are accused of releasing homophobic songs, some advocating violence against the gay community. Various protests by gay rights groups in the UK, US and mainland Europe have forced some gigs by such artists to be cancelled. A commitment by leading reggae labels to pressure their artists to drop offending songs from their sets, and similar commitments from some of the artists themselves, have reduced the number of actual protests of late, though certain artists can still cause some controversy when booked to play in cities or parts of cities with a strong gay community.
Last year Brighton's Concorde 2 venue cancelled a gig by one of those artists - that Buju Banton chap - after the city's famously strong gay community objected to Banton's homophonic song 'Boom Bye Bye', which seemingly suggests shooting gay men. The venue themselves canned the gig, not wishing to piss off the city's gay population, but it was during that incident that councillors first began to consider rules that would give them powers to actually stop venues from staging gigs from other offending artists in the future.
With that in mind the city is proposing adding a new clause to its live music licence conditions, which are currently being reviewed, which would ban the performance of songs that incite hatred to minority groups. Venues who contravened the rules would risk losing their licence.
Councillor Dee Simson, chairwoman of the council's licensing committee, has confirmed the planned new anti-hatred rule, and insists it does not damage freedom of speech. She told reporters: "It will be used in really extreme cases to stop the playing of what's loosely termed 'murder music'. We have a large gay and lesbian community in Brighton and Hove and we want to protect people from facing such hatred. I'm a firm believer in freedom of speech but I'm against the incitement of hatred against minorities".
She added: "It must be stressed this small section of the policy is more about giving guidance to licensees and is likely to be used rarely, if at all. It is not a case of licensing officers going out and checking lyrics".
The plans have been welcomed by gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, one of the most vocal opponents to homophobia in the dancehall genre. He said Brighton should be "congratulated for its decision", adding: "Free speech does not include the right to advocate the killing of other human beings".
Two council committees have endorsed the new licensing rule, and it is expected to be fully approved on 13 Dec.
It should be added that Banton, should he wish to return to the seaside city, may not be affected by the new licencing rule, because since the cancelled Concorde gig he has signed Tatchell's previously reported Reggae Compassionate Act, which commits signed up artists to ban hatred and prejudice from their music.