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Zanreo
(Ten years in the joint)
Noelemahc
Since: Nov, 2010
2015-10-20 23:41:20
Yeah, that one fits, thanks. The musical displacement could theoretically fit under there too (there's no trouble with getting Western music NOW, but there was one THEN), I suppose.
I just hoped we had a 'that music can't happen there!' kind of trope.
Videogames do not make you a worse person... Than you already are.

It's a universal trope but most often occurs in videogames.
The work uses (or refers to, if it's a silent medium) music to accompany the goings-on of the plot. Some of that music is licensed, even, with the occasional Diegetic Switch or whatnot.
There's a problem, however: that piece wasn't yet released when the story takes place, or was not available in this location due to external circumstances, such as distribution, legal battles or censorship.
My specific example is from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain wherein the protagonist can take cassette tapes from stereos in various locations and listen to them on his Walkman at the player's leisure. Sadly, half of the songlist are things that would not be available to Soviet soldiers operating in Afghanistan, and literally no Soviet songs appear either.
Looking for something more specific (and less antagonising) than They Just Didn't Care and Artistic License – Music is about playing musical instruments, not this.