Spotify removes an album of silence from streaming site

Spotify has taken down an album of silence by American funk band Vulfpeck from its streaming site.

Their fourth record, Sleepify, is 10 tracks of silence which they encouraged fans to stream on repeat overnight.

The idea was aimed at generating money so that the band could go on tour and not charge admission fees.

On their Facebook page, they announced that they had been asked to remove the album because it broke Spotify's terms of content.

The band's keyboard player and drummer Jack Stratton says he asked his father for advice when he got the request.

"He said, 'Don't mess with these guys, they're huge.'

"But that's the whole narrative. We're just these little guys in their billion dollar scheme.

"So I get pumped up but then it's like, 'Don't mess with them.'"

Spotify has refused to comment.

The company recently said it pays an average of $0.007 per play, according to figures on its website Spotify Artists which is aimed specifically at musicians.

Explaining its business model, Spotify said it had paid more than $1bn (£612m) in royalties since its 2008 launch.

Vulfpeck's response to Spotify's removal of Sleepify also includes a three-track EP, posted on the streaming site, called Official Statement.

The first track, #Hurt, includes a message from Jack Stratton which says: "About 5 minutes ago I received an email from Spotify.

"The gist of it was that, while they enjoy Sleepify and thought it was funny and clever, it violated their terms of content.

"So I don't know what's going to happen with it - it's very uncertain at the moment.

"And in light of that uncertainly I want to take 30 seconds silence to ponder the uncertainty."

The message is then followed by, #Reflect, which is 31 seconds of silence and Parted Sea (Strong Pesach), which is an instrumental keyboard track.

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