Music

Soundcloud is being clowned for removing a cover of a silent song

by Richard Howard

Soundcloud’s copyright enforcement algorithm (or Content Protection System as they euphemistically call it) has received quite a bit of flack in the past for being a bit overzealous, with some critics going so far as to call it “draconian.” Though Soundcloud insist they’ve radically improved the system, there are still regular complaints from users of completely original material erroneously being flagged for infringement. Now, critics have more proof of the algorithm’s faultiness: the removal of a completely silent track comically presented as a “remix” of another silent composition for – you guessed it – copyright infringement.

Experimental composer John Cage’s “4’33” is well known in artistic circles. Complete with a score and “performed” many times by orchestras, the piece (which consists of three movements) does not contain a single musical note and is said to be a study of environmental noise (rather than complete silence, recordings and performances will capture shuffling of music sheets, the clearing of throats, etc). Still, how do you copyright something containing no music as a musical piece? That’s the question Spanish artist DJ Detweiler is hoping to have answered after his remix of the track was removed.

Not unlike Cage, Detweiler is quite the shit disturber, having gained some notoriety last year year with his “flutedrop” remixes. These insert intentionally bad performances of the cheap flute known as the recorder where the “drop” would usually be in bangers like Lil Jon and DJ Snake’s “Turn Down For What.”

While the eventual removal of those tracks was a no-brainer, Soundcloud may have been expertly baited with this one – not unlike when, in 2002, classical crossover artist Mike Blatt and Cage’s estate convinced the world of a legal dispute between the two over Blatt’s cover version. In actual fact, it was a ruse created to stir up discussion about the often vague and arbitrary nature of copyright law. “4’33” has been covered by many other artists including Sonic Youth and Frank Zappa.