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Justin Bieber’s ‘What Do You Mean?’ Breaks UK’s All-Time Streaming Record

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 08:58 PST, Sep 11, 2015

Justin Bieber continues his record-breaking streak with his new smash single “What Do You Mean?”

The 21-year-old superstar punched in another record in the U.K.’s Official Charts on Friday, September 11, when the song broke the U.K.’s all-time streaming record, racking up 3.87 million plays in the last seven days.

In so doing, Justin Bieber beat out the previous record-holder, Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again feat. Charlie Puth,” which logged 3.72 million streams in April.

“What Do You Mean?” is No. 2 in the U.K.’s official singles chart (Sigala’s “Easy Love” is the new No. 1) having slipped one slot from the top spot it reached on September 4.

On that day, the Official Charts company revealed the song also set a new record for the highest first-week streams for a U.K. single, with 3.2 million plays across chart-reporting services such as Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music.

News of Bieber’s new title of U.K. all-time streaming record holder comes after his impressive debut on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at No. 1 with “Mean” on September 8, with 337,000 downloads sold in the week ending September 3, according to Nielsen Music.

The song’s entrance on the Hot 100 at No. 1 makes it the 23rd song ever to launch at No. 1 in the chart’s 57-year history. Bieber also walked into history as the youngest solo male artist to arrive in the chart at No. 1. The singer was given a Guinness World Record plaque marking that honor just before performing a set for the Today Show’s Toyota Summer Series on September 10.

Previously, Bieber’s highest position in the Hot 100 was No. 2 with “Boyfriend” in 2012.

“Mean” was released on August 28, along with the Ryan Sheckler-starring lyric video. The single became the fastest to reach No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Singles Sales chart. It went on to top 90 iTunes charts around the world, and scored No. 1 spots in the official singles charts of the U.K., Norway, New Zealand, Ireland, the U.S., and Australia.

The song, which was co-written by Bieber, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, and Mason “MdL” Levy, was co-produced by Bieber and Levy. It is the Canadian’s first No. 1 Hot 100 credit as a producer and writer.

The song hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Songs chart, No. 2 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart with 23.2 million U.S. streams, No. 28 on Billboard’s Radio Songs chart with 42 million in radio audience, and No. 16 on the Pop Songs chart, which measures airplay on mainstream top 40 radio, and even picked up the Greatest Gainer spot.

As can happen, huge streaming and sales numbers for “Mean” boosted the fortunes of Bieber’s “Where Are U Now,” which shot up to No. 10 from No. 13 on the 100. Previously, it peaked at No. 8 in July, thus providing Bieber with concurrent top 10 entries for the first time.

“Mean” also topped the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart, which isn’t surprising given the huge pre-release interest and build for the single, and a 30-day social media, celebrity-assisted countdown to the release.

The song set a new record as Spotify’s most-streamed track within its first five days, pulling in over 21 million daily plays. That number bumped to over 31 million for seven days, which hasn’t yet been reported officially.

The single is the first cut from Bieber’s as-yet-untitled new studio album, which is due November 13.

[Images via Getty Images]

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