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{{short description|Classification of music in the Soviet Union}}
{{about|Soviet and Russian music term for a music collective|other use|VIA (disambiguation){{!}}VIA}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Russian music}}
'''VIA''' (
In Soviet times, the term ''VIA'' generally meant
==History==
[[File:Цветы гастроли по стадионам.jpg|thumb|left|280px|A typical 70s Soviet VIA [[Tsvety]], in the hippie-inspired dress of the era]]
[[File:Zemlyane - Soviet Life, October 1984.jpg|thumb|left|280px|VIA [[Zemlyane]],
The term ''VIA'' appeared in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and represented a model under which the Soviet government was willing to permit domestic rock and pop music acts to develop. To break through to the state-owned Soviet media, a band needed to become an officially recognized VIA. Each VIA had an artistic director ({{lang|ru|художественный руководитель}}) who served as manager, producer, and state-appointed censor. In some bands (such as [[Pesniary]]) the artistic director was the band's leading member and songwriter, while in others he played the role of impresario.
Soviet VIAs played a specific style of pop music. They performed youth-oriented (but officially approved) radio-friendly music, which combined contemporary Western and Soviet trends. Folk instruments were often used, and occasionally a [[keytar]] (a keyboard held like a guitar). Songs varied from pop ballads, dance-beat disco and new wave to mainstream rock. Many VIAs had up to ten members (including a number of vocalists and multi-instrumentalists), who were in frequent rotation.
Due to state censorship, the lyrics of VIAs were family-friendly; typical topics were universal emotions like love, joy, and nostalgia, or idealized vignettes from daily life. Many bands also encouraged national culture and patriotism, (especially those of national minorities from the smaller Soviet republics) such as [[Yalla (band)|Yalla]] from [[Uzbekistan]], Labyrinth from [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Chervona Ruta (ensemble)|Chervona Ruta]] from [[Ukraine]]. Folk-based VIAs such as
Many VIAs were created by musicians that played together in local choruses or musical theatrical productions. The earliest VIAs included Avangard (Avantgarde) in 1964, [[Poyushchiye Gitary]] (The Singing Guitars) in 1966, [[Vesyolye Rebyata]] (Jolly Fellows) in 1968, and Dobry Molodtsy (Good Guys) in 1969.
==Unique
The typical VIA consisted of
The Soviet government had strict rules governing how members of a VIA were to behave on stage and conduct themselves in public. Movement around the stage was discouraged. Musicians typically remained in one place as they played their instruments or sang. Anything outside of the conservative "norm", such as tattoos, leather jackets, or metallic accessories were forbidden.
VIA song recordings were done by the
At times, a VIA would collaborate with a well-known solo singer to provide musical backing. Examples include [[Yuri Antonov (musician)|Yury Antonov]] and VIAs [[Araks]] and [[Aerobus]], [[Alla Pugacheva]] and VIA [[Retsital]], [[Sofia Rotaru]] and VIA [[Chervona Ruta]], [[Valeriy Obodzinskiy]] and VIA [[Verniye Druziya]], and [[Lev Leschenko]] and VIA [[Spektr]].
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VIAs typically performed songs written by professional composers and lyricists who were members in good standing of the [[Union of Soviet Composers|Composers' Union]] and the [[Writers' Union of the U.S.S.R.|Writers' Union]] in the former Soviet Union. Some songs were created by VIA members or the VIA's artistic director. In the early 1980s, there was an unspoken rule that at least 80% of a VIA's performance repertoire had to be songs written by union members.
VIAs performed songs in a range of musical styles, including folk music, disco, rock, and synth-pop. Although tightly controlled by the government, VIAs had an enormous influence on the Russian public and created an audience for the rock music wave that followed. On the other hand, VIAs tended to deliver songs that were mainstream, simple in expression, and conservative in performance. Lyrics tended to focus on uncontroversial topics such as patriotic motifs, love stories, idealizations of work, light
A number of VIAs did cover versions of foreign hits, typically changing the lyrics to entirely different meanings, but matching the music and vocalization. At times, VIAs went so far as to claim that the music was their own original work.
==Rise and
VIAs as a movement in Soviet music existed for approximately two decades, from the mid-1960s until the mid-1980s. They were very popular, particularly among Soviet youth. The best known VIAs would perform year round, giving several concerts a day. Many of these concerts received television and radio air time. Their albums sold tens of millions of copies.
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