“What Do You Mean?” by Justin Bieber

song info

    “What Do You Mean?” by Justin Bieber (official video) is a pop song.

link to the static song information page for this song:
http://www.thissideofsanity.com/music/songs/wh/whatdoyoumean.php

    Summary quotation from Wikipedia:

    “What Do You Mean?” is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, and the lead single from his forthcoming studio album (2015). The song was announced on July 28, 2015 on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. The single was released on August 28, 2015. Upon release, the song was well received by music critics, and was also a commercial success, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, while also becoming his highest-charting single in Germany. The song debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 with 337,000 downloads sold in its first week, becoming Bieber’s first number one hit in the U.S. and the 23rd song in the chart’s history to open at number one.

Release

    Bieber first announced “What Do You Mean?” on July 28, 2015 on On Air With Ryan Seacrest. While he was there, his manager Scooter Braun made him a promotional sign for the single to hold and suggested he should put the photo on his Instagram account. To promote the song, Braun contacted several celebrities who started counting down the days until the release. Celebrities who promoted “What Do You Mean?” on social media, in the build-up to its single release, included: Ryan Seacrest, Fifth Harmony, Mariah Carey, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Big Sean, Alanis Morissette, Meghan Trainor, Tori Kelly, Halsey, Cody Simpson, Little Mix, Shaquille O’Neal, James Corden, Martha Stewart, Britney Spears, Martin Garrix and many other celebrities. Bieber presented the song in early August 2015 to radio professionals at an iHeartMedia event.

Composition

    “What Do You Mean?” was written by Bieber, Jason Boyd and Mason Levy. It is a pop and EDM song, with tropical house influences. Bieber uses a breathy vocal. The production contains flute instrumentation, piano chords tropical synths, bass and “slick beat” elements with the sound of a clock ticking. Gil Kaufman of MTV News writes that the track contains “a slippery flute-like trill over a spare tick-tock island groove and a super chill vibe”, and is “a kind of sequel” to Skrillex and Diplo’s “Where Are U Now”, which featured Bieber. According to Nick Messitte of Forbes, “What Do You Mean?” shares similarities with Omi’s “Cheerleader”. Messitte noted that both songs make use of “the soulful piano in the background, the wash of ride cymbals dropping out here and there, [whereas] synthetic pan flutes replace the trumpet counterpoint of “Cheerleader” ”. It was initially speculated by the media that Skrillex produced “What Do You Mean?”. However, a spokesperson for Bieber confirmed in an interview for Rolling Stone that the song was produced by Bieber, and MdL who had previously collaborated with the singer on his single “Boyfriend” (2012).

Critical reception

    “What Do You Mean?” was well received by music critics. USA Today’s Carly Mallenbaum, who heard “What Do You Mean?” in early August, described it as “catchy”. Similarly, a writer for The Daily Beast said, “[‘What Do You Mean?’ is] pretty damn catchy; a slow-burner that, like that collab, swells into a Bieber banger”. Gil Kaufman of MTV News also called it a “banger”, explaining, “the track is classic JB: seductive, earnest, pleading and just the right amount of sexy”. Idolator’s Mike Wass praised the song’s “instantly memorable chorus”, and added, “Vocally, [Bieber] has never sounded better”. Digital Spy’s Lewis Corner felt Bieber’s vocals were “smooth and soulful”. Andrew Unterberger of Spin opined the song was “really quite delightful”. Sean Fitz-Gerald of New York magazine was also positive: “The song sounds like what would happen if you took Steve Aoki’s alarm clock to a tropical beach resort. (In other words, electro-catchy as hell.)” Jason Lipshutz of Billboard gave the song a four (out of five)-star rating and commented that it was “positioned as [Bieber’s] huge comeback bid”, and said, “[The song] synthesizes the positive components of ‘Where Are U Now’ and presents something warmer and friendlier, but no less nuanced or impressive”.

Music video

    A lyric video for “What Do You Mean?”, directed by Laban and featuring skateboarders Ryan Sheckler and Chelsea Castro, was released on August 28, 2015. A music video, directed by Brad Furman and starring John Leguizamo and Xenia Deli, premiered on August 30, following the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

Commercial performance

    With “What Do You Mean?”, Bieber surpassed Baauer to become the youngest male artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    In Bieber’s native Canada, “What Do You Mean?” debuted at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, with sales of 48,000 copies, becoming the biggest first-week sales total of 2015 and the highest since Eminem released “The Monster” (2013). It also broke the streaming record in Canada, with 3.1 million streams in its first week. “What Do You Mean?” marked Bieber’s second number one hit in the country, following 2012’s “Boyfriend”.

    In the United States, “What Do You Mean?” debuted at number 28 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart dated September 12, after three days of release, with a radio audience of 20 million. With 21 million streams in its first five days of release, the song broke the streaming record in the United States and globally, surpassing the 20 million streams One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” achieved in its debut week. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 issued for September 17, 2015, replacing The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” at the top of the chart—the third time a Canadian singer replaced another Canadian singer at the top of the Hot 100. It marked Bieber’s first number-one single and seventh top 10 hit in the United States, and was also the 23rd song to begin at number one in the Hot 100’s 57-year history. Additionally, the single’s debut made Bieber the youngest male artist to enter atop of the chart, and the youngest artist since Fantasia’s “I Believe” (2004). The track also debuted at number one the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 337,000 copies in the week ending September 3, 2015—marking Bieber’s second number one single on the chart, following “Boyfriend” which sold 521,000 in its debut week. In its second week, “What Do You Mean?” stayed at the top of the Hot Digital Songs chart with sales of 159,000 copies, however, it descended to number three on the Hot 100, with a decrease of 30% in overall activity, but rebounded to the runner-up spot the following week and stayed as the best-selling song with 128,000 downloads.

    In the United Kingdom, “What Do You Mean?” debuted at the top of the UK Singles Chart for the week ending September 10, 2015, with a combined sales total of 84,000 units. It surpassed his previous best sales week of 55,000, which “Boyfriend” had sold in April 2012, and also marked Bieber’s first number one single in the United Kingdom. The track broke the highest first-week streams record in the country with 3.2 million streams, surpassing the stream tally of 2.03 million set by One Direction’s “Drag Me Down”. In its second week, the song descended to number two, however, it broke the country’s all-time streaming record, with 3.87 million streams in seven days. After three weeks since its release, the song remained as the most streamed track in the country with 3,62 million streams and returned to the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart by over 15,000 chart sales.

    In Australia, “What Do You Mean” debuted atop the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming Bieber’s first number-one single on the chart and his first apparence as a lead artist since his single “Beauty and A Beat” peaked at number nine in December, 2012. The song has spent three consecutive weeks on top of the chart, and has been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

    “What Do You Mean” also topped the charts in New Zealand and Ireland, becoming his first number-one single in both countries. It has so far spent three consecutive weeks on the top of the charts in both countries.

Live performances

    Bieber performed “What Do You Mean?” live for the first time at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30, 2015. He performed the track on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, accompanied by The Roots and featuring a guest verse from Black Thought. Bieber also performed “What Do You Mean?” on The Today Show along with his older songs and “Where Are U Now”, and on Think It Up!.

—from Wikipedia (the Wikipedia:Text of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License applies to Wikipedia’s block of text and possible accompanying picture, along with any alterations, transformations, and/or building upon Wikipedia’s original text that ThisSideofSanity.com applied to this block of text)

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