Taylor Swift's entire back catalogue removed from Spotify

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Taylor SwiftImage source, Getty Images

For the last few weeks, Taylor Swift's Shake it Off has been one of the most streamed tracks on Spotify in the UK.

Now, none of her albums are available on the music-streaming service, after the singer removed her entire back catalogue.

So far there's been no word from Swift on why she's taken the tracks down.

Spotify meanwhile has released a statement saying that the company hopes "she'll change her mind" and return to the site.

Image source, Spotify

If you're really desperate for some Taylor Swift - Newsbeat has managed to find two tracks on Spotify that seem to have been left behind.

Love Story still features on a compilation called Heart Breakers and The Hunger Games soundtrack has Safe & Sound on it - but there's no guarantee they'll be on there for long.

Image source, AP

"We love Taylor Swift, and our more than 40 million users love her even more - nearly 16 million of them have played her songs in the last 30 days, and she's on over 19 million playlists," said Spotify.

"We hope she'll change her mind and join us in building a new music economy that works for everyone."

They added, in reference to one of her hits, Stay Stay Stay: "PS - Taylor, we were both young when we first saw you, but now there's more than 40 million of us who want you to stay, stay, stay. It's a love story, baby, just say, Yes."

Representatives for Swift have yet to return a request for comment.

Image source, AP

The 24-year-old's fifth album, 1989, was released last week and has topped the album charts in the UK.

It sold 90,000 copies, making it the fastest-selling album of the year by a female artist, but it was not put on Spotify.

Swift has been outspoken in the past about music piracy and in an article in the Wall Street Journal, external earlier this year, she described how the business models used by some artists have devalued music.

"Piracy, file-sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently," she said.

"In recent years, you've probably read the articles about major recording artists who have decided to practically give their music away, for this promotion or that exclusive deal.

"My hope for the future, not just in the music industry, but in every young girl I meet… is that they all realize their worth and ask for it."

Image source, Reuters

Spotify claims that its business model, in which revenue is shared with the "music community", helps to tackle the issue of piracy.

"We believe fans should be able to listen to music wherever and whenever they want, and that artists have an absolute right to be paid for their work and protected from piracy," it said.

"That's why we pay nearly 70% of our revenue back to the music community."

Image source, Spotify

The site has compiled two playlists in response to her departure, one of which is called What to Play While Taylor's Away.

The other - A Little Playlist Poetry for Taylor Swift - features tracks whose titles when read in order say: "Hey Taylor We Wanted to Play Your Amazing Love Songs And They're Not Here Right Now."

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