Lady Gaga, Katy Perry on China's music blacklist

China's Ministry of Culture has added hit pop songs from artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and the Backstreet Boys to its latest internet blacklist.

Various music websites must remove songs deemed inappropriate by September 15, the ministry said. Non compliance could potentially result in prosecution by Chinese authorities.

Officially, imported albums and songs are to be translated and then submitted to the Chinese government for approval before distribution online. According to China's Global Times, a 2009 directive sought out to ban songs deemed to have "poor taste and vulgar content," as well as those violating copyrights.

The ministry said 100 songs have not been submitted for approval.

Included on the list of offending music are Lady Gaga's The Edge of Glory (among her six appearances on the blacklist), Katy Perry's Last Friday Night, Beyonce's Run the World (Girls) as well as older chart-toppers, like the 1999 Backstreet Boys hit I Want It That Way.

Most of the other songs on the 100-track list are by artists from Taiwan, Japan and other east Asian countries, although Canadian rockers Simple Plan and British pop group Take That also made the cut.