I think the silent tracks contribute to the novelty of the idea. This is about promotion and I wonder if this article would have been written if it was just about a band asking their fans to stream their album.
Make an album where every track is only a couple of seconds of music, but you can play the tracks randomly to generate an infinitely long ever-changing song.
You get the hype, the tracks are short, so you get more plays/hour and you can pass it off as an artistic endeavor.
You get the hype, the tracks are short, so you get more plays/hour and you can pass it off as an artistic endeavor.