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.

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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
A little-visited Indian Ocean archipelago
The Week Recommends The paradise of the Union of the Comoros features beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs and lush forests
-
AI: is the bubble about to burst?
In the Spotlight Stock market ever-more reliant on tech stocks whose value relies on assumptions of continued growth and easy financing
-
Crossword: October 19, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literature
Speed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91
Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year