Music

The media of totalitarian regimes in general, when left up to the people up top, tends to shy away from the depressive and the ideologically rebellious. That’s why the Soviet Union went to the effort of producing some great classical musicians

Half true. Russia has always been a bastion of Classical Music, but they did as much to destroy it as they did to sustain it. Some of its best classical musicians suffered immensely during the Stalinist era, for both ideological and political reasons. In many cases, musicians relied on political patrons for support; the more patrons you had, the more performances you could make, the more money you could therefore make and the more publicity you got.

That said, classical music did maintain greater mainstream traction for longer - primarily due to political interference. Jazz and rock 'n roll were seen as a 'foreign influence' and a clear tie to the corrupt, capitalist world outside the Soviets.