Justin Bieber excited fans by beginning the new year with an Instagram announcement suggesting he would be making a return to music.
Bieber announced he would be releasing a single, along with an album, tour and several docuseries to showcase his comeback. I started to notice that after the initial announcement, Bieber periodically posted about 25 more Instagram photos leading up to the release of the song.
Like most artists, I think Bieber was trying to get people excited for his new single, but it seemed too forced. I expected the single to be really good since there were so many posts leading up to it. To my surprise, the song “Yummy” was not good. It was very repetitive and weak, poor quality for a Justin Bieber song. I think if an artist works so hard to make a comeback, they should at least pay attention to the tastes of their audience and what they will listen to.
“Me” by Taylor Swift was another example of this kind of false start. The song threw me off because I was expecting something better from Swift, since she had so much talent. Swift was able to redeem herself with her album because it was much different from her single. She was able to surprise fans and bring them back with her album. It’s unclear if Bieber will be able to do this.
Bieber has taken unusual approaches to get fans to listen to his new release, urging fans to get the song to number one on the Top 100 Billboard Charts. To me, the strangest tactic was a series of photos he posted on his Instagram, a step-by-step guide called “How to get Yummy to #1.” One instruction was to create a Spotify playlist with the song and play it on repeat.
“Don’t mute it!” the post said. “Play it at a low volume, let it play while you sleep.”
I learned that the post was created by a Justin Bieber fan account and has since been taken down, but it was still posted to Bieber’s main account, the one he moderates himself. I think it was an odd post, the type other artists don’t do.
Also unlike other artists, Bieber teamed up with many social media stars to promote the song. He was featured on David Dobrik’s YouTube channel, where he did a surprise appearance for fans. The video seemed fun and lighthearted, but Bieber was very demanding, as he kept urging the people in the video to listen to the song. Another unusual promotion tactic was videos of Bieber face-timing with fans. Bieber would call his fans and while they were emotional, he continued to ask them if they had bought and shared his song. It was only when they said yes that he called them a “true fan.”
In my opinion, I think Bieber knew the song wasn’t good enough for a comeback. I believe most of the posts and comments were orchestrated by Bieber’s management to get him validation and praise. While the song did top the R&B song charts, it remained at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
I hope Bieber can take the experience as an opportunity to create more music that he loves and not worry about topping the charts. I think I speak for many Bieber fans when I say we would love for him to make a return to music, as long as he stays true to himself and his talent. His weird tactics for “Yummy” won’t help him with this.
Shelby Bordes is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Rayne, Louisiana
