Silence. That’s all you hear for nine minutes and 58 seconds on Great Neck resident Samir Mezrahi’s “A a a a a Very Good Song” that climbed its way to number 30 on the iTunes charts. The blank track was created by the owner of the @kalesalad Instagram page in response to a common issue many have when they first plug their phone into a car to play music.
When plugging a phone into the car using an audio cable or USB cable, the music app immediately pops up and the first song in alphabetic order begins to play. Mezrahi found that this was a common issue many people faced, causing them to hate songs they used to love.
“I knew it was a problem when I wrote a BuzzFeed post about it in 2016 after seeing everyone else feel it was a problem,” explained Mezrahi. “I surveyed a few friends and family and they had the same problem.”
After listening to the first 10 seconds of “All You Had to Do Was Stay” by Taylor Swift every time he plugged his phone into the car, Mezrahi finally had enough on Aug. 7. He recorded blank air for 26 minutes and uploaded it to iTunes for others to enjoy. When he realized that iTunes charges for a whole album if more than 10 minutes are uploaded, Mezrahi cut the song down to its current nine minutes and 58 seconds. A few days after uploading the song and promoting it through his personal Twitter page, @samir, which has more than 30,000 followers, and his @kalesalad Instagram page, which has more than 700,000 followers, the song went viral.
“I knew a lot of people had this problem but didn’t expect it to go viral,” said Mezrahi. “I wasn’t even looking at the iTunes charts and then someone tweeted at me that the song hit number 70, and then I was just watching the charts. It hit number 30 on Friday and it’s been bouncing between number 70 and 90 ever since.”
Mezrahi believes that his Twitter and Instagram fan base had much to do with making the song climb the iTunes charts. While Mezrahi is unsure of how to follow up after his hit blank track, he is both surprised and excited about the positive feedback he has received.
“I think a lot of people are excited a silent song is on the charts,” said Mezrahi. “A lot of
people are also like, ‘Why is there a silent song on the charts?,’ but once they figure it out, the reaction is very positive. I’ve always been a fan of things that don’t really impact the world, but are just positive. It’s just something people can enjoy and have no negative sense about.”
Mezrahi’s blank track is available on iTunes and the Google Play Store for $0.99.
Read also “@kalesalad: The Man Behind The Memes.”
