An Iranian music streaming platform named Melovaz has recently come under fire for taking liberties with artistsโ album covers. As many people know, Iran is still super old-school when it comes to what they allow their public to view. Particularly when it comes to viewing women. In general, itโs just not allowed.
Iran is still living in the stone ages when it comes to how they see and โdealโ with women. Since 79, it has been illegal for women to appear in public without a hajib (a head covering). Why? Because even looking on a womanโs face is enough to let the devil take hold of young men and turn them sideways. Or, at least thatโs the case according to the Iranian government.
So, when it comes down to selling the music of multi-national pop-stars, the woman-fearing government has come up with a plan to benefit from the sales without compromising their โmoral characterโ. How, you might ask? By removing women from their album covers completely.
As you can expect, more than a few fans are pretty upset about the whole affair. The rest of us? Well, weโre just laughing at the idiocrasy of it all and, not to mention, the epically terrible editing done on the albums. Here is a list of 55+ album covers before and after Melovaz got their clone-tool-happy hands on them. Caution: some of these look very, very wrong.
1. Lady Gaga โ โJoanneโ
Well, at least they left her pink hat. That, at least, indicates a woman **may** have used to exist beneath it. Considering how crappy the rest of these edits are, we are genuinely impressed at their relatively decent addition of a hat hole.
Apparently, the only real goal of Melovaz is to erase women. Clearly, they have no concerns for preserving any sort of artistic value, as the left-over commentary bubble and the 1/3rd of an American flag waving in the background might tell you. At least he still has a back where they removed her hand, though.
The star may have been born, but Melovaz made sure she was quickly erased. Now itโs just a lonely Bradley Cooper making googly eyes with a blurry ghost wave.
Guess the music streaming site figured if it was really all about spirit, there was no need for a human body. Weโre really amazed they left the lion, though, and a little bit confused. Donโt they know itโs a female lion? Slackers!
Pose naked or donโt, Iran will still make sure that youโre nowhere to be seen. Sure, she could have just included her head actually above water, but itโs a girl head so it wouldnโt have really mattered in the long run, anyway. Iran doesnโt like to be reminded of the fact that women have faces.
6. Little Mix ft. Nikki Minaj โ โWoman Like Meโ
Whoa, ladies! Donโt you know that one female is overkill, let alone four? And wearing turtle-necks, no less? Youโre drawing waaayyy too much attention to your girl-faces. CUT!!!
While itโs okay for women to be covered head to toe, apparently itโs not so much for men? Maybe they just mistook Ryan Reynoldโs girlish figure for an actual womanโs? Or, maybe they knew it was a man and were ashamed of how his tights made them feel? Weโre not really sure what happened here, but at least we know Reynolds can now legitimately relate to being discriminated against for being a woman.
Gah! The editorโs spacing isnโt even and itโs killing us! If youโre going to replace an entire person with a pattern, that pattern better be perfect, dammit!
The best part about this photo edit is that they left the shadow of her feet. They may have removed the image of the creepy woman, but her presence is still very much there. Looks like Billie got the last laugh here.
Well, at least they didnโt remove Lizzo entirely so much as just blotted out her face with an Adobe fog of sorts. Hahaha, Melovaz! We can still see her neckline and itโs giving us feelings!
13. Pnb Rock, Nicki Minaj, and Murda Beatz โ โFendiโ
Oh dear. This is just too much. We LOVE that they left her name but removed her character on the cover. Sheโs there, but sheโs not. This side-by-side definitely makes us realize that PNB Rock and Murda Beatz look extra foolish without the flash and pizazz of Minaj around.
If youโre doing a self-titled album and donโt want to be totally eclipsed on your own cover, aim to look decently boyish. Dia managed to become a dull blur on Melovaz rather than erased entirely. Maybe a little bias going on in the editorโs booth? Hmmmmm???
We donโt know what Martinez was ever thinking here. Doesnโt she know that Iran doesnโt want to encourage girls to go to school? She really should have known betterโฆ
We knew the clone-tool would be busted out on this one. If we canโt see fully clothed women on an album cover, then Ariana Grande is pretty much just out of the picture when it comes to Iran. No, seriously, she is literally taken out of the picture.
Looks like fear won this battle. The fear that the skin of Marinaโs neck and shoulders might lead to a sexual riot. Good thing the photo-shoppers had that covered.
19. Kygo and Whitney Houston โ โHigher Loveโ
On what planet does this make sense? Erase the album star and leave the guy hardly anyone knows about? Clearly, Iran isnโt worried about pushing album sales.
We arenโt really sure exactly why the man was removed from the center. Too difficult to edit out, or did he just get punished for being too open with womensโ bodies? Probably the edit thing.
Well, to brand her album โLiarโ and pose half-naked on the cover was pushing her luck, I guess. Maybe thatโs why they left the feathers floating from the shootout?
At least they were fair in their editing here. They probably just got a little confused about the rules and generalized it to no females or female lookalikes.
Again, who on earth did this site hire to perform the edits? Did they think it was just artistic flair to leave Lanaโs locks all over the sign, or are they just that crappy at their only job?
At least with this one you can still see the outline of a womanโs body. If you peer real close to the center of the flames, it looks like a side profile of Celine flipping her hair. Guess this editor loves Celine too much to just erase her. Can you blame him, though?
Well, if she was feeling special before Iran got itโs women-hating hands on her album, we doubt she does now. Nothing says youโre NOT special like evaporating you from your own album art.
35. Cardi-B and Bruno Mars โ โPlease Cover Meโ
Donโt worry, Bruno. Iranโs got you covered! Or, at least they will cover up the co-artist on your album. Nevermind your now-jagged right hip. All eyes are on you, now!
How dare women have faces and skin?! We totally see why this is unacceptable. Sheโs upside down. People could get confused about what women are supposed to look like.
She was โX-edโ right out of her own album artwork. Is it weird that the lack of Madonnaโs face and the โparental guidanceโ styled lettering on the edited version make us want to click it even more?
38. Lady Gaga โ โJoanne (where do you think youโre going?)โ
Youโd think that there would be no problem here, since you canโt see Gagaโs face. That tight bun and long leg, though? Well, now, theyโve gotta go.
No oneโs getting a one-up on Iggy. In response to being edited from her own album cover, she had this to tweet: โThe jokes on them cause I put a vagina reference in every song so who really won.โ
Iran doesnโt even like fake women made from neon signs to be on display. Either the men there are super imaginative or super horny. With the censorship theyโre under? Weโre guessing just a little bit of both.
We know just where Swae went wrong here. Itโs the braids, dude. Nevermind your gorgeously chiseled man-face. The braids are too sexy and women wear them so, yeah, youโre out man.
Itโs not the skimpy outfit that got Nicki thrown off her album cover, to be fair. Itโs the fact that thereโs nothing dangling between the legs of her skimpy outfit that saw her ousted. Next time we hope she does a little more forward-thinking and brings a prop along.
Apparently the landscaped background was offensive, too? Maybe it suggested a little too much freedom in thinking for yourself. She really should have known better.
Ah! If they only knew what GTFO stood for. Poor sexist censorship on this one. If youโre gonna be a culture-nazi, you should go all the way with it and research your acronyms.
That completes our list of 60 of the most assinine album cover edits in Iran right now. Stay tuned, because weโre sure that list will only continue to grow. While some of these pictures may be pretty funny in themselves, the fact that women are stripped of their right to artistic expression, or any expression at all, really, is not. Please SHARE this with your friends and family to help Iran get it through their heads that women will NOT be erased that easily.
An Iranian music streaming platform named Melovaz has recently come under fire for taking liberties with artistsโ album covers. As many people know, Iran is still super old-school when it comes to what they allow their public to view. Particularly when it comes to viewing women. In general, itโs just not allowed.
Iran is still living in the stone ages when it comes to how they see and โdealโ with women. Since 79, it has been illegal for women to appear in public without a hajib (a head covering). Why? Because even looking on a womanโs face is enough to let the devil take hold of young men and turn them sideways. Or, at least thatโs the case according to the Iranian government.
So, when it comes down to selling the music of multi-national pop-stars, the woman-fearing government has come up with a plan to benefit from the sales without compromising their โmoral characterโ. How, you might ask? By removing women from their album covers completely.
As you can expect, more than a few fans are pretty upset about the whole affair. The rest of us? Well, weโre just laughing at the idiocrasy of it all and, not to mention, the epically terrible editing done on the albums. Here is a list of 55+ album covers before and after Melovaz got their clone-tool-happy hands on them. Caution: some of these look very, very wrong.