Idolator
Adding to Britney Spears' ever-growing file of press clippings to this week is the reaction to the chart debut of her comeback single "Gimme More"; it entered this week's Billboard Hot 100 at No. 85, leading many so-called pop-music experts to cackle and say that the song was a flop, that her career was really for sure over this time, etc. But an Entertainment Weekly thinkpiece on Britney's folly-filled week is actually positing that the song has a shot at being pretty big:
But guess what? The debacle hasn't deflated her new single's momentum at all. One label exec calls ''Gimme More'' ''a smash'' and goes so far as to predict that her album — which is slated to bow opposite stiff competition including Céline Dion — ''will sell very well. I don't think the performance is going to hurt her or the album.'' At press time, ''More'' remained one of the most requested songs at New York's Z100, which premiered the tune on Aug. 30. ''People are still calling in, wanting to comment on the performance,'' says program director Sharon Dastur. ''But then they say, 'When's the next time you guys are playing the song?'''
So what happened with the chart debut, then? Well, the No. 85 bow was entirely the result of radio airplay; it's at No. 61 position on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart (reg. req.) this week. "Gimme More" isn't available as a digital single yet, and won't be available for purchase until Oct. 2; to see how much being for sale on iTunes and other digital-music outlets can affect a single's fate, check out these two paragraphs from the wrapup of this week's Hot 100 from Billboard:
Back on the big chart, the appropriately titled "How Far We've Come" from matchbox twenty flies up 81 spots, 93-12, after its digital release, becoming the second-biggest jump of 2007 behind the 91-spot leap of Beyonce & Shakira's "Beautiful Liar."
Alicia Keys' "No One" is this week's Hot Shot Debut at No. 71 but will likely jump significantly next week after its digital release.
Keep in mind, also, that demand for the ringtones of "Gimme More" was so strong that it initially crashed MTV.com's servers; sure, a large part of that could be chalked up to the novelty of having your phone say "it's Britney, bitch" when it's really your mother calling. But that demand indicates to me that it's still too early for Internet hissers to call this track a complete and utter dud, although Jive should probably the release date of the digital track up a bit just to see if that'll shut people up faster. It's not like it's even a terrible song, dead-eyed VMA performance aside; if the first single was the mewly untitled track that leaked a few weeks ago, this "it's a flop!" backlash would at least be a little more understandable.
Britney: Down for the Count? [EW]
Soulja Boy Remains No. 1 Amid Static Top Four [Billboard]
[Photo: AP]
Comments
Eminem better hurry up and finish his new record, so he can parody her in a video.
Along with Linds, Paris and the "LEAVE HER ALOOONE!" YouTube guy he's missing out on a golden age of pop-culture...
On what planet is Celine Dion competing with Britney Spears?
It's definitely an okay song, and the gays at the clubs seem to be loving it. As much as I'm tired of typing the letters "Britney" I don't think this is the end of her at all.
@sjc: This is from Chris Molanphy, who's having some problems with our upgraded commenting system:
Re: SJC -- on the planet (this one) where Britney's album will hit stores the same week Dion's does. And given that Dion's last few albums all debuted at #1 with numbers in the high six figures, Brit-Brit's going to have to really motivate buyers to get her requisite #1 debut.
Which matters, BTW, because Spears has an unbroken record with her studio albums -- all debuted at #1. In fact, as counterintuitive as this sounds, throughout her career Spears has actually been a more consistent and bigger album act than a singles act. On the Hot 100, she only has one top five hit to her credit (her only chart-topper, "...Baby One More Time"), three more hits that barely scraped the top 10, and a whole lot of mid-charters. Her chart/radio performance from song to song is erratic; some of her "hits" were missing the top 20 or even the top 40 as far back as 1999-2000.
Meanwhile, both of her first two albums are certified diamond (that's more than 10 million apiece in the U.S. alone), and even semi-flop In the Zone is just shy of triple-platinum.
All this is a long way of saying, Maura has it exactly right in this piece -- it's way too soon to tell how well "Gimme" will ultimately perform. In the four years she's been out of the marketplace, the charts have changed radically because of iTunes.
My prediction: a massive chart surge the week after the song hits iTunes, then a big plummet, then a slow rise again if the song catches on at radio -- and I mean catches on, as in getting played during afternoon drive time because people like the song, not play during the "morning zoo" because of morbid curiosity.
The big issue is that this song has no video (Britney bailed on the self-funded disaster) and won't get a digital release until a month after it was given to radio stations. Those are things that should have been ready two weeks ago, to capitalize on the first week curiosity plays it got.
It's worth noting that according to Mediabase, the single was steadily climbing in airplay until Sunday (the day of the VMAs). Beginning Monday, aka the day after, the song's been losing an average of 100 spins per day.
The "label exec" quoted in the article is either from Jive and trying to put on a happy face, or just took a hit from a crackpipe (or both). Of course this performance reflects badly on her. No record company wants their "artist" to be known as a national punchline rather than "the star that just put out that new single." What does the label exec think is going to promote this album? There are no music videos on the horizon, and obviously Britney cannot be relied on to do any interviews, promo appearances or tours.
From what I heard from a friend at the company, Jive was hoping that the VMAs appearance would be the lynchpin of their promo efforts for this album. Her giving a good performance would've not only promoted the single, but Jive was hoping it would finally show (to them, and to everyone else) that she was serious and ready to work. Had it gone well, Jive was ready to book more appearances to capitalize on what was supposed to be her "triumphant return" and "the new Britney." Now they're scrambling and don't know what to do to pull it out of the fire. This may very well turn out to be the only promo appearance for this abum, and it was a disaster - but that "label exec" wants us to believe it doesn't matter? Uh huh.
I need to audition to be a commenter? What if I fall and trip of something? I'd be so embarrased! ;-)..... As for Britney's songs, I am fair and honest. When I listen to music, I just pick out what I like and forget the rest. She has 3 or 4 I liked a lot and 3 others that were really bad in my opinion. I also like, "You're heaven on Earth". "Gimmie more" seems to get stuck in my head in a good way after I play it. All hit songs have a tendency to do that. They also have a tendency to get big reactions, positive/negative etc.
It's the boring songs that people quickly forget that are flops. It has a catchy beat and is fun to listen to. The only reason it might not do well is if people are too negative about her tv performance which I don't think is really that important. I play music for the sake of the music and not what someone did on a stage etc. My guess is that it will be a top 10. Maybe even #1.
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