Boos and hisses online for Spotify this week, after it emerged the company has asked US band Vulfpeck to remove its ‘Sleepify’ silent album from the service. The band launched the 10-track album in March and encouraged fans to leave it streaming all night, in an effort to raise money to fund their next tour (Bulletin, 18-Mar-14). A week into April, and the tracks had been streamed 3.7m times, generating an estimated $18k in royalties for Vulfpeck. Now it’s gone. “Feeling #hurt. Spotify has RESPECTFULLY asked us to remove Sleepify. Please listen to our OPEN LETTER OFFICIAL STATEMENT,” they explained to fans on Facebook. And yes, said statement has been released on Spotify: “While they enjoyed ‘Sleepify’ and thought it was funny and clever, it violated their terms of content,” explains the statement. “I’m scared and I’m a little bit chilly, I’m hurt and confused…” The three-track release also includes one track, #Reflect, that’s 31 seconds of silence “to ponder the uncertainty” too. We suspect Vulfpeck will still get their royalties from ‘Sleepify’ plays to fund the tour, so requesting a takedown now may not be the hammer blow you’d think.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools :: Wyng
Through Music Ally’s internal marketing campaign tracking, we’ve recently discovered an interesting website by the…