A Taylor Swift Bandcamp page is up and running, but Swifties shouldn’t expect any of the pop star’s hits.
Fans heading to TaylorSwift.bandcamp.com for possible clues as to what Swift, 34, is doing following the release of The Tortured Poets Department will only find disappointment — and three tracks of pure fury. The songs on the profile — the minute-long post-hardcore “Taylor Swift 1,” the 32 seconds of noise-rock titled “Taylor Swift 2” and the grindcore-inspired “Taylor Swift 3” — are not her. While there are persistent rumors of Swift having an unreleased rock album called Karma, the music on that Bandcamp page is from Madison James, a member of the New Jersey punk bands No Good With Secrets and Ogbert the Nerd.
James, 27, tweeted on April 25 that they had “secured the URL” to TaylorSwift.Bandcamp.com. “Who’s starting a screamo band with me?” they added, as first reported by Stereogum.
“I didn’t really think any of this through,” James (who uses they/them pronouns) tells Us Weekly in an official statement. “There’s no bigger meaning to it besides a one-off joke I made and the way it spiraled into a wider discussion and thing people are excited over has been as funny as it’s been interesting. I don’t mean any malice or have any deep-rooted beliefs in the deeper meaning of any of this. I’m just having a little fun for the sake of making my friends laugh and maybe learning how to write better riffs.”
This is one of many famous profiles that James has secured. They also have control NikkiMinaj.bandcamp.com, MyChemicalRomance.bandcamp.com, DuaLipa.bandcamp.com, DaftPunk.bandcamp.com and LeBronJames.bandcamp.com.
ok secured the url, who’s starting a screamo band with me https://t.co/4LnTBUo0h8
— quincy motorola (@quartzmorrigan) April 26, 2024
James tells Us that their band No Good With Secrets will release their second LP, Another Side, on May 10. Ogbert the Nerd will also put out “a bunch of new music soon.” Fans can tune in to their Bandcamp for more.
The Swift prank comes just ahead of Bandcamp Friday, set for May 3, which is when Bandcamp waives its revenue share. All money spent on Bandcamp that day goes directly to the artist, so fans can order Another Side on CD or cassette with all the money going directly to No Good With Secrets.
Swift’s TTPD has broken almost every streaming and sales record without a Bandcamp page, so this bit of cybersquatting is unlikely to threaten her bottom line. Instead, as James tweeted on April 28, this is “a case study in that being funny on Twitter is enough to get 10 offers to do a split, 3 tape label bites and (at this time) 15 show offers.”
Maybe No Good With Secrets or Ogbert the Nerd could open up for her on the next leg of the Eras tour?
