Vulfpeck is a musical embodiment of nerdy love. For the past three years, the Los Angeles funk rock quartet has been bringing listeners instrumentals that would be best suited as background music for “Napoleon Dynamite.” Vulfpeck is all bass lines and Wurlitzers, conjuring up images of ironic shag carpets and brown paneling.
Last week, Vulfpeck released a surprise album on Spotify. Many excited fans were confused to find the album was 10 tracks of complete silence. The album “Sleepify” is the band’s attempt at cutting out its fans’ painful admission charges.
Each time a track is played in its entirety, Vulfpeck earns a fraction of a penny. The band is urging fans to loop “Sleepify” while they sleep, earning approximately four dollars each night.
The album’s profits go toward Vulfpeck’s tour for its latest album “My First Car.” Even though payouts are about two months from now, “Sleepify” has already racked up a theoretical amount of more than $5,000. That’s fast and easy money for a band putting out silence.
One of the hardest parts of being in a band is the touring. After you’ve worked for months on end to create this album you’re genuinely proud of, you have to travel all around to make sure people hear it and see you. Tours equal loads of time, money and attention.
For most big-name acts, admission charges pay all of this work back. Being in a world-famous band is all about money and fame, two things nobody would give up if they had them.
By eliminating the hassle of admissions, Vulfpeck has shown that its members care more about getting their music to the band’s fans rather than making massive amounts of money to pay off a tour and fund a follow-up album.
It may seem a little counter-intuitive, but Vulfpeck is steadfast in its perseverance of music for music’s sake. Another significant aspect of the tour is its route. The band plans to direct its tour through areas of the highest “Sleepify” streaming traffic, giving fans complete control to steer Vulfpeck all around the world. So far, the heaviest activity is turning up in the United States and the United Kingdom, shaping up for a tour on both sides of the Atlantic.
As of this week, the “Sleepify” album hasn’t produced enough money to completely fund Vulfpeck’s tour. However, I’m confident this alternative-funding concept will gather momentum and allow the band to deliver on its word of a free tour. If this plan does come to fruition, it could mean a new outlook on the way bands make music and fans see concerts.