The Twitter account for Sony Music Global appears to have been hacked after it announced the death of Britney Spears.

"RIP @britneyspears," the account tweeted, with a crying face and the date of her birth and "death".

Another tweet said: "britney spears is dead by accident! we will tell you more soon", with the hashtag #RIPBritney.

Another tweet came from the official Bob Dylan Twitter account, which shared the news by saying: "Rest in peace @britneyspears" with another crying face.

It is possible the account, which is also part of Sony has also been hacked, suggesting a master document of passwords may have been compromised.

The tweets have now been deleted.

A spokeswoman for Spears confirmed to The Independent she is still alive.

The hacker group OurMine, which has previously accessed the accounts of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and publications BuzzFeed and Forbes, appeared to tweet from Sony Music Global's account to confirm it had been used by another hacker.

The group tends not to wreak havoc after accessing accounts, but instead encourages people to improve their online security and buy its consulting services.

It would appear the original hacker is riffing off the sentiment of 2016, a year seemingly characterised by so many high-profile celebrity deaths.