Music is the cup that holds the wine of silence. Sound is that cup, but empty. Noise is that cup, but broken.
Robert FrippHowever, in modern conceptual frameworks there is a more sophisticated view. I would say that the act of music exists in several worlds simultaneously.
Robert FrippThe creative musician ... is ... the radio receiver, not the broadcasting station. His personal discipline is to improve the quality of the components, the transistors, the speakers, the alloys in the receiver itself, but never to concern himself overmuch with putting out the program. The program is there; all he has to do is receive it as far as possible.
Robert Fripp