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Justin Bieber’s ‘What Do You Mean?’ Goes Platinum In The U.S.

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 11:51 PST, Oct 6, 2015

Justin Bieber’s comeback single “What Do You Mean?” has already gone platinum in the United States.

The milestone represents the single punching in U.S. sales units of at least 1 million, with one unit equal to one paid download or 100 streams, based on the Recording Industry Association of America’s criteria. The organization has not yet formally announced Bieber’s and his co-writers’ achievement on the R.I.A.A. website, but that platinum certification is only a matter of time.

Update: The R.I.A.A. registered “Mean’s” single platinum and “Where Are U Now?” double platinum certifications on its site on October 7.

(Screenshot R.I.A.A website)
(Screenshot R.I.A.A website)
(Screenshot: R.I.A.A. site)
(Screenshot: R.I.A.A. site)

Yesterday, Headline Planet reported “What Do You Mean?” had racked up over 800,000 paid downloads in the U.S., which is no small feat given that the tropical-house-pop song was released on August 28.

The jam is the lead single from Bieber’s upcoming album Purpose, which is set to arrive on November 13. Following its release, it broke Spotify and iTunes records, and sky-rocketing to No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Singles Sales chart within five minutes before topping iTunes in 90 countries. The song remained at No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes for 25 days before conceding to Drake’s “Hotline Bling.”

The song broke the most-streams in a debut week pulling in over 21 million streams on Spotify in five days. It was also the fastest track to reach 100 million streams on the platform, dethroning Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” which features Charlie Puth.

On September 8, Bieber became the youngest male artist to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with the song. The single is now No. 2 on the Hot 100 after its No. 1 debut four weeks ago. Billboard is reporting the song is holding at No. 3 on Digital Songs, fell from No. 3-5 on Streaming Songs, and moved from No. 8 for No. 5 on Radio Songs for the tracking week ending October 17.

Earlier this week, it was reported that “What Do You Mean?” had crossed the 800,000 sales mark in the U.S., with Nielsen Music reporting the song sold 85,431 paid U.S.downloads during the tracking period ending October 1.

Meanwhile, the smack talk is heating up between the Biebs and One Direction, who are also release their fifth (possibly final) album — Made In The A.M. on the same day as the Canadian superstar.

This comes after Justin and Louis Tomlinson’s Snapchat sass from last week, which started with the Biebs sharing a video of himself talking about anyone releasing an album the same day as him, then pulling a scared expression. Tomlinson shot back with a similar video days later.

Fast forward to last Thursday when Bieber was still in New Zealand finishing up his promotional tour for “Mean,” which began in Europe then extended to Australia.

During an interview with The Edge radio station Smash! show hosts, Bieber opened up in a more serious way about how he feels about One Direction jumping on his release date — which, they did nearly one month after Bieber announced the date on August 28 when he released “Mean.”

When Bieber was light-heartedly asked if he had called One Direction friend Niall Horan to ask him why the band chose to release their album on the same day as his, the 21-year-old kept things sweet.

“I didn’t give him that call, no.” the Biebs replied. “I think it’s a friendly competition. I’m excited. I gotta say I’m really excited.”

One host then jokingly asked the singer if he and One Direction got together over a drink and decided to release their album on the same day for a laugh.

At this point, Bieber offered what many will see as completely obvious reading of the upcoming album chart battle.

“I don’t know if they’re [One Direction] really going on the road much, but we’re talking about them right now, so gives them some promo, right? So, that’s probably why they did it,” he mused.

After a brief interjection from The Edge hosts, the heartthrob added, “I think it was strategy on their part, ’cause my release date was first.”

That part of the interview wrapped with Bieber seemingly showing no hard feelings towards the band, and saying, “But, whatever. It’s whatever. It’s gonna be fun. I’m excited to see what happens.”

Watch the interview below. Whatever happens between One Direction and Justin Bieber on November 13, the Internet is going to be seriously lively. Brace yourselves.

[Images via APPIMAGE]

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