Taylor Swift tops Canadian iTunes charts — with 8 seconds of static

At this point, Swifties rabid for new material off Taylor Swift's upcoming album, 1989, will pretty much buy anything on iTunes — even if it's a song consisting of eight seconds of white noise.

Last night, Taylor Swift released "Track 3" on Canadian iTunes for $1.29 CAD. Zealous Swifties, perhaps thinking Taylor was pulling a Beyoncé, quickly opened their wallets and snapped it up, despite the fact that the song's preview sounded like static and the track's time was listed as :08. The track immediately catapulted to the top of the Canadian iTunes singles charts.

While it would be amusing to imagine that this is Swift's first foray into ambient experimental music, it's far more likely that the track's release was simply the most successful iTunes glitch in history. Although "Track 3" has since been removed from the Canadian iTunes store, Swift fans won't have to wait much longer for a full album: 1989 will make its full (and hopefully glitch-free) debut on October 27.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up