Justin Bieber faces big name competition for No. 1 spots on iTunes charts tonight, in the shape of Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
After kicking off his 10 singles in 10 weeks Music Mondays series with “Heartbreaker” and “All That Matters” — both of which topped iTunes charts around the world at their peak — Bieber drops his third single “Hold Tight” at midnight (Oct. 21).
Lady Gaga, who is releasing three singles to iTunes over three weeks, is set to roll out “Do What U Want ft. R. Kelly” at the same time.
Gaga’s strategy is identical to Born This Way’s run and is intended to build up to the November 11 debut of her ARTPOP album.
A Beats by Dr. Dre commercial featuring the song has already been released as a preview.
Joining the midnight scrum with Gaga and Bieber is Swift, who is releasing “Sweeter Than Fiction.”
The song features during the end credits of the movie One Chance , a biopic about amateur opera singer Paul Potts and was co-written with Jack Antonoff, Fun’s guitarist. Swift took to Twitter earlier today, announcing,
So…. “Sweeter Than Fiction” will be available at iTunes TONIGHT at midnight! @onechancemovie
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 20, 2013
Likewise, Gaga and Bieber have been hyping their millions-strong fan bases ahead of time.
DO WHAT U WANT ft @rkelly SONG RELEASE: Monday 12:01am US CANADA MEXICO + Tuesday 12:01am WORLDWIDE
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) October 19, 2013
As with his first two singles, Justin has been alerting fans intermittently on Twitter and will join them in the final hours for the premiere countdown.
Manager Scooter Braun previously described the upcoming song as “baby making music,” and Interwebs chatter suggests “Hold Tight” will be another R&B slow jam.
U ready for midnight tonight? #HoldTight #MusicMondays
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) October 20, 2013
Perceptually speaking there’s perhaps less at stake for Swift. Currently riding high after her sixth Nashville Songwriters Association International Songwriter of The Year honoring and an education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame, a movie tie-in carries less risk than a stand alone single.
That said, everyone likes to win. Bieber will want to continue the sales success his first two singles achieved on iTunes, while Gaga has a lot to prove after Applause’s less than stellar face-off with Katy Perry’s Roar.
It’s possible the mighty legions behind Bieber and Lady Gaga could narrow the fight to these two, or perhaps a wildcard will storm the No. 1 spots?
Either way, come midnight it’s going to get interesting.
