Sony Music has apologised to Britney Spears and fans after its Twitter account was hacked and a fake tweet said the pop icon was dead.

The singer's record label said its social media account was "compromised" but that the situation "has been rectified".

The company said it "apologises to Britney Spears and her fans for any confusion".

The 35-year-old Grammy Award winner "is fine and well," Spears' manager Adam Leber told CNN.

Image: Spears is alive and well, her agent says

In the first of several false tweets on Monday, the company's Twitter account published a short message reading "RIP @britneyspears" and "#RIPBritney1981-2016".


The message was accompanied by a teary-eyed emoji, Variety and Billboard magazines reported.

The fake tweets were soon removed. In some tweets, the group OurMine took responsibility, Billboard reported.

The Twitter account of folk music icon Bob Dylan may also have been subjected to a hoax, Billboard said.

2 Dec: Did North Korea hack Sony?

Dylan's account sent out a now-deleted tweet reading "Rest in peace @britneyspears."

The Sony spokeswoman confirmed that Dylan is also a Sony artist and that the company's statement "holds true for what's happened".

Another unit of Sony, Sony Pictures Entertainment, was the victim of a devastating cyber attack in November 2014.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded it was the work of North Korea.

That hack came a month before Sony Pictures was due to release the film "The Interview".

The film was about two journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.