Justin Bieber seemed to have been on to something when he began his "Music Mondays" series during October. The project, which involved releasing a new track every Monday for ten straight weeks, began as a success considering that the tracks released weren't technically singles. However, consumer enthusiasm has dropped off significantly, entering the series' sixth week.
"Heartbreaker," the song dropped on October 7 to kickstart the series, sold 182,000 downloads during its first week and placed no. 13 on the Hot 100 chart. The following releases, "All That Matters" and then "Hold Tight," also debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Digital Downloads chart, but saw a significant drop off in buyers (earning 127,000 and 111,000 downloads, respectively). The songs saw similar drops in popularity on the Hot 100 as well. The last releases, "Recovery" and "Bad Day," managed to place in the Top 10, but have still debuted in the Hot 100, albeit at a weaker place than their predecessors. It's understandable that the Hot 100 places have dropped in conjunction with poorer sales, considering that total downloads is taken into consideration when tabulating Hot 100 rankings.
It stands to reason that excitement would slow down for any artist carrying out a similar project, but Bieber's Beliebers have proven to be more dedicated than the typical pop follower, so it's somewhat surprising that so many would spring for "Heartbreaker" and then drop off for the following tracks.
On the other hand, none of these songs are going to be featured on a new album, so considering that none have been released as formal singles, the project has still been a success overall for the pop star. Selling 86,000 copies of "Bad Day," which has to be considered as a B-Side if "Music Mondays" was an album, is fairly exceptional.
We'll have to see on Wednesday how his current release, "PYD," has fared in comparison.
