Sparks fly between the Cupertino company and the British composer Tim Arnold, because after having created (and published) a video on Apple Music, as part of his latest album, it was Apple itself who knocked down the video and removed it from the platform. The reason? It has to do with the company’s new mixed reality headset.
This is a conceptual video clip
The Apple Music application allows the publication of songs, but also video clips. Artists can upload content to the platform, and it becomes available for playback. This is what had happened with the composer Tim Arnold, who has included, in his latest album (Super Connected), a song that pretends to be an advertisement that interrupts the playback of the album.
The intention of creating a joke ad is precisely that: a joke. This same parody song has, in turn, a video clip. And here the Cupertino company comes into play, because that song parody called A Commercial Break is a parody of the Apple Vision Pro. In an interview with 9to5Mac, Arnold himself has revealed that this content is censored on Apple , is available without any problem on Spotify.
Now, they explain that the reason that Apple has given to censor this video is the “false ad concept” and not the fact that they are laughing at the Apple Vision Pro.
But it’s not just the video clip, but the entire album
Both the video and the song are part of this album. And here Apple has not decided to knock down just one song or just one video. He has directly removed the album in its entirety, and it cannot be heard on the platform.
“They say that Apple will accept the album if the track in question is excluded, but is key to understanding the concept from the album itself”, they explain from 9to5Mac. In addition, “other albums on Apple Music, such as Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For the Deaf, TD Cruze’s TDTV, and The Who’s The Who Sell Out, contain parody ads and spoofed radio segments.”
An open letter to Apple
Tim Arnold himself has published on his Medium page, a letter so that Apple picks up cable in its decision, and allows its content to be published. But it’s not just about this specific petition, it’s a reflection on the duality between creative freedom and innovation, and the clash between art and corporate control.
The letter begins with the following reflection: “I am used to being told that my sense of humor can be somewhat lacking when it comes to distinguishing between what is true and what is meant as a joke. But with “A Commercial Break,” everyone who has heard it has taken notice. I’m pretty proud of this as comedy has always eluded me! But what about you, Apple? Are you sure you can handle a joke?
“From my current perspective, it seems like Big Tech companies can make ads that parody artists, but artists can’t make ads that parody Big Tech,” Arnold explains.
