MC is a criminal rebel against a dystopian government. While doing standard rebel criminal things in an effort to escape the country, he also enjoys singing and playing guitar. Just in a realistic sense. How would the US Government realistically react to a terrorist leader on the levels of Osama Bin Laden playing guitar and singing? Would he be treated as any other artist? Or would there be a certain "controversy", or would he just be banned entirely?
Well of course they would try to kill him, but what would they do with the music itself? Ban it, or let it stay?
I doubt they's ban it, because that would cause controversy and pretty much ensure that anyone that could get a hold of it would listen to it. They'd probably just make a low key effort to erase what they could from existence, while probably saving some less than stellar examples the could then use to malign both the persons character and the musics artistic merit.
If it's a "dystopian" government, it would probably be banned entirely. Movements that would lead to a dystopian government rarely value freedom of expression.
Well, that depends on the type or dystopia it is and how it keeps control of it's masses. Both 1984 and Brave New World show dystopian governments, but where 1984's keeps a strangle hold on people through violence, coercion, and austerity, Brave New World's government keeps the masses sedate by flooding them with luxuries, entertainment, and distractions, while casting social stigmas on things that would upset their power (like natural reproduction). Nothing is really ever 'banned' just strongly discouraged through indoctrination from birth and other, more socially accepted options given. It's only after you refuse to adhere to the societal mould that you're shipped to 'The Island' with the other free thinkers.
I think we need a little more info from OP about this government itself, but it's worth pointing out most real world governments that would be called dystopian if they were fictional align with the "ban it, burn it, bury the makers of it" model of suppressing anything they disagree with.
I haven't thought about every nook and cranny just yet. But pretty much why the government took over was because the country beforehand, the country had a two party system that lead to both parties causing pointless drama that causes the country to suffer as a result. They wasted resources on fighting enemies both in and outside of the country when they could have just stomped them out if they really wanted to. It wasn't about destroying the country for power's sake like in 1984. But rather saving the country by getting rid of the drama. They destroyed both parties and the government and replaced it with a dictatorship, then sucked out the resources of other countries so they can't rise up to start another war. It's not perfect, but in their eyes it saves time, resources, and arguably lives of the soldiers since that means they no longer have to fight in some stupid war that doesn't solve anything. Also, usually the government is pretty indifferent about art. It's usually don't become a serious threat to the system and then you can say whatever you want, within reason. But that might be different when the person releasing music is supposedly a "terrorist leader" Religion is also banned, as the entire country is strictly athiest. Unlike most dystopian governments where LGBT relationships are banned, here they are actually allowed. Because again, religion is pointless drama that doesn't truly matter. Who cares what happens after you die or what deity exists or what doesn't. Focusing on the long term is one of the new government's core values. The reason why the MC is rebelling is because he's an anarchist and he believes that the dictator doesn't have a right to rule over everyone like that. I'm tired as hell right now but I hope that helps.
First I'd try to figure out what makes your dystopia a dystopia. Being a dictatorship isn't really enough. Dystopias are a negative twist on Utopias in that while a Utopia 'is' a perfect society, by necessity it can be only a perfect society for a certain class. Dystopias are the look at the necessarily 'not great' things that make a utopian class possible.
