UPDATE MON AFTERNOON: The total number now is 32 according to Buzz Angle. The 13 was from last week. Another 19 have been added. I’m writing this not as a knock agains Zayn or his records, but as a cautionary message to him and his management. You can’t keep releasing music without backup support. This is the result.
EARLIER What the heck is going on?
Two weeks ago, One Direction’s Zayn Malik released his fifth single from a still unreleased album. None of them had charted. The same went for “Sour Diesel,” a funky crunchy song that came with a video featuring an orgy. “Sour Diesel” went sour over night, and failed to chart. It’s sold around 10,000 copies.
This past Thursday, without warning, Zayn released another single, called “Too Much.” This one features Timbaland, the producer who’s brought magic to a lot of records particularly by Justin Timberlake. From Thursday through Saturday, according to Buzz Angle, “Too Much” did not enough. It sold 13 copies. I watched it hit 45 on iTunes for an hour, drop to 85, and then drop off completely.
On amazon.com’s digital music chart, “Too Much” is around number 2,200. No one bought it or listened to it.
The only good news is 2.5 million views on YouTube. “Sour Diesel” has around 3 million views on YouTube cumulatively. But it’s not clear what that means. So dog and cat videos.
Something weird is going on here. Clearly, there’s no coordination, management, etc. And why is RCA going along with no strategy?