I'm sure there are near vacuum and high density areas of space (gas clouds and nebulae).
Sound might travel in those areas of space. It might have distortions relating to the density and composition of that particular substrate.
In the intent of this thread and the context of 'movie physics' "vacuum" is true vacuum.
In true vacuum, there is no sound in space because there is nothing for the sound waves to move. Its the same physics for moving and 'flying' in space in the movies.
Spaceships don't 'fly' in space. There is nothing for their surfaces to 'glide' upon. Spaceships can't turn by banking their wings. Those wings and aerodynamic structures have no significance unless the craft actually enters an atmosphere. But...it 'looks cool' so the effects team uses it.
There are two realities here.
The false reality many people think from watching movies, poorly made documentaries or inadequate education assumptions.
Then there is the actual scientific reality which allows space agencies to send craft millions of miles into the solar system and actually end up where they wanted it to go.
Mankind's current level of understanding is relatively new. There is far more going on in reality than we can possibly understand right now.
Science, like science fiction, constantly expands its horizons as we understand more. Science 'rewrites' itself because it constantly learns new things and sometimes those new understandings change our basic understanding of something to the point old truths must be updated to new realities.
Movie physics has little to do with scientific reality and more to do with the "wow' factor needed to make money.
2001 space Odyssey is a great movie for this. They get it so right.
I've seen that film multiple times and I also see many things they got so WRONG.
There's a lot of movies and TV shows which gets SOME of the physics right but it seems there will always be some movie physics needed to please the audience and bring in the money.
I've also watched live NASA footage of space...which by comparison is boring as hell.
Movie physics is needed to keep the intended audience interested.
The way I see it, there are a few different levels of understanding:
1. Fantasy - movie physics, entertainment physics and folklore (warp speed, time travel, wormhole travel)
2. Speculation - understanding based in science realities but unproven by scientific method ("black Holes" {singularities}, absolute zero physics, artificial intelligence}
3. Theory - understanding based on scientific method with limited 'proofs'. {quantum physics, particle physics, interstellar space)
4. Science - understanding proven to be reality, tho limited to our current understanding of our own domain. (fundamental laws, relativity, particle physics)
5. Unknown - 99.99999>% of the actual universe which includes a very large percentage of things we don't even know to exist.
Sound physics is based on how we detect sound. Our ears and microphones detect sound as changes in density waves. If there is no substance to carry the sound wave, we can't detect sound.
Local space is not empty but it is sparsely populated. [approximately 5 particles per cubic centimeter around Earth and the density decreases further from the Sun]The density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m3 (1.2 g/L, 0.0012 g/cm3). Atmospheric density decreases as the altitude increases.
So on top of Everest you would need to 'crank it up' to listen to your favorite song at the same level you like it on the ocean beach.