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Apple offers "Silence" at ITMS as individual track

updated 12:35 am EST, Tue February 17, 2004

Apple sells \"Silence\"

Apple is now , Sonic Youth's 63-second stretch of silence, on the iTunes Music Store after some confusion: "In an article in The New York Times on Feb. 9, an Apple spokeswoman had said that such decisions were up to the artists and that the band had requested the change. But Lee Ranaldo, a guitarist and singer for Sonic Youth, disputed Apple's version of events. 'We are very happy for the track to be sold to anyone who wants it as an individual download.'"

by MacNN Staff

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02/17, 12:51am | report spam | close Reply |
Good

this brings publicity which is good. Thanks to the news media for picking it up from As the Apple Turns :D

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02/17, 12:56am | report spam | close Reply |
RIPE

Silence is just RIPE to be a 10-15 minute jam.

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02/17, 01:02am | report spam | close Reply |
With all due respect

MacNN is the 'News Media'?

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02/17, 01:38am | report spam | close Reply |
this was SUCH

a non story in the first place....like, WHY in the name of h*** was it "newsworthy" to begin with? if the cd has the silence on it the mp3's should as well....just as if i purchased the physical item

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02/17, 02:15am | report spam | close Reply |
Welcome to 2004

As thousands scramble to pay 99 cents for copy-protected silence ... We're all damned ...

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02/17, 02:38am | report spam | close Reply |
As The Apple Turns...

...was the first to report this on Feb 5th.
http://appleturns.com/episode/?id=4492

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02/17, 03:38am | report spam | close Reply |
Fact checking!

It's Ciccone Youth, not Sonic Youth!

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02/17, 03:39am | report spam | close Reply |
MacNN as media

(I think the 1st Poster was referring to the original buying of silence, which was picked up by C|Net (ugh) and the New York Times; who cares if it was a non-story, it brought attention to the iTMS, which is good for brand recognition and mindshare)

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02/17, 03:48am | report spam | close Reply |
amusing tidbit

It's not front page or full article stuff, but since MacNN is not the New York Times, it doesn't have to be so. I like to see tidbits like this sometimes.

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02/17, 04:53am | report spam | close Reply |
Cage did this ages ago.

{{Yawn}}. John Cage did this in the 50s (or 60s?). Only it wasn't so much the silence, but rather the audience's restless reaction to it that provided the "musical" entertainment. I might go for a minute of crickets chirping... but, it's not worth paying a buck for something that can be so easily created for free. �
�
�
�
�
�
�

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02/17, 05:34am | report spam | close Reply |
This news is SO old...

...everyone but MacNN is already SILENT on the topic.

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02/17, 06:44am | report spam | close Reply |
Remix

When's the remix out? I want it.

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02/17, 07:16am | report spam | close Reply |
Great Album!

Few things...

- Circcone Youth == Sonic Youth.

- This is a great album that was virtually unavailable for a long time so I immediately bought this from iTMS (only the second album I bought there). Its Sonic Youth having fun doing stuff that normally wouldn't fly (even for them). Now they do this type of stuff on their own SYR label.

- I don't expect anyone would pay 99 cents for this song, but it is part of the album so if you want the whole album experience it should be offered.

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02/17, 10:50am | report spam | close Reply |
John Cage's estate...

...should sue for plagiarism.

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02/17, 10:52am | report spam | close Reply |
huh?

" - I don't expect anyone would pay 99 cents for this song, but it is part of the album so if you want the whole album experience it should be offered."

The whole album experience? I'm guess I'm an artist. I hit the pause button all the time when I listen to music creating silence. What creative genius.

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02/17, 11:22am | report spam | close Reply |
..

did a search in the store. didnt even see it listed.. was it the silence? :)

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02/17, 11:26am | report spam | close Reply |
Copyright infringement?

If I pirate this song, could I get charged with copyright infringement? What if I create an MP3 of silence that is the exact length of the silence track in question and populate the id3 tags with the same info as the Sonic Youth track? How could someone prove it wasn't a copy of the original?

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02/17, 11:27am | report spam | close Reply |
Next up

Following the mediocre sales of Silence, the band moves on to Flatulence to thunderous applause.

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02/17, 11:42am | report spam | close Reply |
Ibet

this silence track has got to be better then most of that rap music

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02/17, 11:54am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: next up

Following the mediocre sales of Silence, the band moves on to Flatulence to thunderous applause.

Hey, you can already get that on the iTMS. Just do a search for 'f***'. 99 tracks of pure disgusting bodily sounds.

At least they're offering this as an album now. Before, it was by song only (so $100 to get the whole album, got to love it!). Oh, and most tracks are available in full in the preview mode, since they're less than 30 seconds.

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02/17, 12:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
silence

I'm selling a copy of silence I created, recorded at twice the bitrate as the one on apples site, for only 25 cents.

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02/17, 12:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
Lawsuit

>> John Cage's estate...
...should sue for plagiarism

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02/17, 12:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ripe

Those who use the RIPE line are idiots.

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02/17, 12:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
Reminds me...

Reminds me of the old Marx brothers routine:

"How much do you charge not to play?"

"You couldn't afford it.:

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02/17, 12:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
Extended remix

I prefer the extended dub remix of "Silence." It rawks, man! Really cool if you've got a subwoofer, too.

Perhaps I'll start selling "experimental music" on iTMS, too, and make a few bucks. Perhaps I'll start with the sound of my typing this post :)

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02/17, 12:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
I'm glad someone else...

...spotted that it was Ciccone Youth.

If anyone would like to hear my (free) cover of this track just mail music at buckley-mellor dot com.

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02/17, 12:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
Should sell John Cage

4'33"

http://www.azstarnet.com/~solo/4min33se.htm

When did Sonic Youth start sampling John Cage?

hahah... only joke.

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02/17, 02:09pm | report spam | close Reply |
4'33"

Note that Cage didn't like recordings in general, and would be particularly averse to a recording of "the silent piece". Read that page for a description of a performance of it to get an idea why. Making a silent recording is absurd, where a silent performance can be quite interesting. Offering a silent recording for sale *by itself* is even more absurd, of course. It might make a very good comment on the absurdity of copyright for recorded works in general, but unfortunately CY/SY doesn't seem to mean it that way. Nonetheless it'll probably make people think about just what they're supposed to be "buying" when they fork over to the iTMS.

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02/17, 05:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
I give you a discount

I'll be happy to sell you my cover version of "Silence" for 50 cents! Half of what it costs on iTunes!

I take PayPal...

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02/17, 07:19pm | report spam | close Reply |
John and Yoko

...recorded 2 minutes of silence on their "Unfinished Music: Life with the Lions" album (Zapple, 1969), I believe.

btdt

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02/17, 08:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
"Silence" by Guster

A similar track is available on Guster's album "Keep It Together"...

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02/17, 10:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
silence

where a silent performance can be quite interesting.
Sorry, but a silent performance can't be interesting, unless there's a woman up there stripping to the silence. Its just silence. Its not visual. Its not auditory. Its just silent. "Ooh, listen to the audience! Its sounds like a bunch of people realizing they just paid $30 to watch some guy sit on stage not playing anything."

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02/18, 10:29am | report spam | close Reply |
secrets...

The universe's secrets are found in silence. Shhh...tell no one.

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Apple offers "Silence" at ITMS as individual track

updated 12:35 am EST, Tue February 17, 2004

Apple sells \"Silence\"

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Good

RIPE

With all due respect

this was SUCH

Welcome to 2004

As The Apple Turns...

Fact checking!

MacNN as media

amusing tidbit

Cage did this ages ago.

This news is SO old...

Remix

Great Album!

John Cage's estate...

huh?

..

Copyright infringement?

Next up

Ibet

Re: next up

silence

Lawsuit

Ripe

Reminds me...

Extended remix

I'm glad someone else...

Should sell John Cage

4'33"

I give you a discount

John and Yoko

"Silence" by Guster

silence

secrets...

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