Justin Bieber is allegedly trying to artificially inflate sales and streams of his new song, “Yummy” in an effort to make it top music charts. Bieber’s new song was released on January 4th, 2020 and the first week of a song’s release is usually when it makes the most impact. More importantly, when it typically has the best chance of reaching the top of the Billboard charts.
With the evolution of the music industry, the methods employed by people, brands, and even whole communities have changed. This is especially true with the impact and force social media now has on music, and just about everything else. One way is to simply get a song to go viral and let social media do its thing naturally. Another is to rely on an already invested community to help prop up plays and sales of a song and in some cases, for the sole purpose of reaching the top of the chart. That’s exactly what Bieber has allegedly encouraged his fans to do.
Bieber reportedly shared a post on his personal Instagram account that actively encourages “Beliebers” to do all they can to get “Yummy” to the number one spot. The post he shared, as well as the original post, have since been deleted. Although, as is the case with the internet in general, traces remain. The so-called “guide” advises fans to “create a playlist with Yummy on repeat and stream it.” Adding, that people should “not mute it” but play it at a low volume “while you sleep.” Some of the other recommendations include buying the song on iTunes and “multiple times” through Bieber’s website. Those on YouTube are instructed to watch the video, log out of their account, watch it again without skipping the ads or muting the video and then to refresh the page instead of hitting repeat. Although this orchestration is designed to climb the U.S. chart, those not based in the U.S. can help the cause by downloading a VPN app, setting the VPN to the U.S. and creating a Spotify account.
Bieber Fans Not The First, Won’t Be The Last
This is not the first, nor will it be the last time, tactics like this are used to try and artificially increase the buzz around a new song, album, or even movie. In fact, it is starting to become extremely commonplace with a social media-first marketing approach alive and well within the music industry. What’s more, communities are free to get involved however they see fit, including streaming or purchasing what they want, as often as they want. The question being raised here and what seems to set this instance apart from previous similar cases is Bieber’s own involvement. Of course, that’s even if it was Bieber who got involved to begin with considering it could just as easily have been a member of the Bieber marketing team on social media patrol at the time.
Regardless of any direct involvement, it remains to be seen how effective these methods are. While it is highly likely that a community as wide and as loyal as Bieber’s will generate significant interest, likes, and plays, getting to the top of the charts requires millions of combined sales and streams. Arguably, millions more than even the most dedicated fanbase will be able to do in the short space of time needed before the Billboards counts are in. Then again, Bieber does have more than 124 million followers on Instagram.
Source: Twitter / Karl is Rare