4 ms·

As a huge fan of John Cage, I feel obligated to point out that this is not "scamming" - it is a true performance of a musical work[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/

As a huge fan of John Cage, I feel obligated to point out that this is not "scamming" - it is a true performance of a musical work[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3 John Lennon and Yoko Ono also did "Two Minutes of Silence"[1], which was later covered by Soundgarden as "One Minute of Silence" on the album Ultramega OK (they didn't like Yoko Ono's minute, so they only covered Lennon's[2].) As Debussy famously remarked, "Music is the space between the notes."[3] [0] Of course, that means they should probably be paying royalties to the Cage estate, but that's a separate matter.... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfinished_Music_No._2:_Life_with_the_Lions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfinished_Music_No._2:_Life_w... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramega_OK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramega_OK [3] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy

sharkweek 13y ago
While these are great, let's swing the conversation the other direction and rock out to some of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music - I'm still not convinced anyone has actually listened to it all the way through. But seriously, I love any attempt at stretching the boundaries of music as a performance art, because who the hell are we to tell musicians what they can and can't do
- aneisf 13y ago
  Metal Machine Music is a great album, and relatively quite tame by modern noise music standards.
wtracy 13y ago
Really, the scam is not the silent tracks--the scam is encouraging your fans to repeatedly play the tracks when they're not actually listening.
- aroch 13y ago
  Simple fix: "The low level noise caused by my speakers being powered but not making noise helps my sleep similar to a white noise machine."
  - alttab 13y ago
    Simpler Fix: Change the Spotify Terms of Service.
sp332 13y ago
I'm much more impressed with Cage's version than Vulfpeck's. The whole point of Cage's is that it's not actually silent, but Vulfpeck's are.
curun1r 13y ago
There's also the math-themed band from the movie "Proof" that had a silent song they called "i" (their imaginary number). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377107/quotes?item=qt0392968 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377107/quotes?item=qt0392968
sirdogealot 13y ago
I remember one of my favorite radio stations mentioning this work and then mentioning how they successfully sued somebody for "copying it". Vulfpeck had better watch out! "...in 2002 the composer Mike Batt made a six-figure, out-of-court settlement for infringing on John Cage’s 1952 work, 4’33″ http://classicalconvert.com/2007/07/the-stupidest-music-lawsuit-ever-infringing-on-cages-433/ http://classicalconvert.com/2007/07/the-stupidest-music-laws...
deleted 13y ago
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sharkweek 13y ago

While these are great, let's swing the conversation the other direction and rock out to some of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music - I'm still not convinced anyone has actually listened to it all the way through. But seriously, I love any attempt at stretching the boundaries of music as a performance art, because who the hell are we to tell musicians what they can and can't do

aneisf 13y ago
Metal Machine Music is a great album, and relatively quite tame by modern noise music standards.

wtracy 13y ago

Really, the scam is not the silent tracks--the scam is encouraging your fans to repeatedly play the tracks when they're not actually listening.

aroch 13y ago
Simple fix: "The low level noise caused by my speakers being powered but not making noise helps my sleep similar to a white noise machine."
- alttab 13y ago
  Simpler Fix: Change the Spotify Terms of Service.

sp332 13y ago

I'm much more impressed with Cage's version than Vulfpeck's. The whole point of Cage's is that it's not actually silent, but Vulfpeck's are.

curun1r 13y ago

There's also the math-themed band from the movie "Proof" that had a silent song they called "i" (their imaginary number). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377107/quotes?item=qt0392968 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377107/quotes?item=qt0392968

sirdogealot 13y ago

I remember one of my favorite radio stations mentioning this work and then mentioning how they successfully sued somebody for "copying it". Vulfpeck had better watch out! "...in 2002 the composer Mike Batt made a six-figure, out-of-court settlement for infringing on John Cage’s 1952 work, 4’33″ http://classicalconvert.com/2007/07/the-stupidest-music-lawsuit-ever-infringing-on-cages-433/ http://classicalconvert.com/2007/07/the-stupidest-music-laws...

deleted 13y ago

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