After 15 weeks at the top of the official UK singles chart, Drake’s One Dance was finally toppled by Major Lazer’s new track Cold Water at the weekend.
The track, which was co-written by Ed Sheeran and features guest appearances from Justin Bieber and MØ, flew straight in at No. 1 on Firday, which is no mean feat in this day and age.
The only other artist to do so this year is Zayn, whose debut release Pillowtalk was no doubt bolstered by the fact that it was the first solo release from a member of a certain One Direction.
Aside from being the only two acts this year to debut at No. 1 in the singles chart, the two acts also share something else in common – they both performed extremely well on the downloads front in their first week of release.
This has been partly attributed to the dedication of each artist’s fan base, particularly in the case of Major Lazer, which boasts a dedicated live following.
However, another key factor in the immediate success of Cold Water is the marketing push from Major Lazer’s label Because Music.
“We had members of the band record a number of phoners, so we had interviews going out on Radio 1, Kiss, Capital; everyone had a little bit of time with the band so everyone felt involved with the project right from the beginning,” said Jane Third, SVP, Because UK.
In addition to the radio push behind the track, Because Music also had a street campaign lined up ahead of launch, while Justin Bieber ran a social media countdown to its on-air, on-sale release.
“There was about a week for fans to get excited about it,” Third adds. “Then it was straight on the A-lists everywhere. It was all about making sure we had as much happening from day one as possible.”
You can read our interview with Third and Music Week analysis of Cold Water’s debut chart performance here.
