Britney Spears, her PR team, and her record company were planning a big comeback for the pop idol this year. However, those comeback plans have been destroyed by a single that hasn’t even come close to making the top 10, despite loads of hype and positive press. As Inquisitr reported earlier this week, “ Make Me ” has fallen from No. 17 to No. 52 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Perhaps Britney Spears and her team thought that releasing a video for the single on Friday morning would help the song chart. However, the response to “Make Me” has been very mixed. The Huffington Post is just one of the sources that are disappointed with the “Make Me” video.
“Spears has done it again (not in the good way) with a new music video for the lead single off her highly anticipated ninth studio album Glory … and it’s underwhelming. Look, we aren’t expecting Brit to deliver masterfully constructed ‘Usual Suspects’-style plotting, but ‘Make Me’ leads us to believe that… what?”
The review adds that not only do the product placements cheapen the video, but that Britney’s dancing is pretty bad. However, Daniel Kreps from Rolling Stone is nicer.
“The ‘Make Me’ video offers a lighthearted, fictionalized look at the audition process to cast Spears’ on-screen paramour in the ‘Make Me’ video.”
Kreps adds that there was another “Make Me” video directed by David LaChapelle that the record company didn’t want to be released. Perhaps, judging by the reaction to the video, they should have gone with the first version. Britney is being ripped to shreds on Twitter over the “Make Me” video.
i hope britney loses the custody of her children again for releasing that awful video
— CRASH (@kyscharli) August 5, 2016
Usually, a hyped-up new music video helps a song climb on iTunes. Spears’ “Make Me” did climb back up the iTunes charts briefly, but as of Saturday morning, is experiencing another major drop in sales after the hype has disappeared and the negative publicity has set in. This doesn’t bode well for Britney Spears’ album Glory , which is set to be released on August 26. Spears proudly announced the album’s release on Instagram.
If “Make Me” doesn’t rebound, it will be the lowest-charting first single for a Britney Spears album since she started her musical career in the late 1990s. After a major breakdown in 2007, Britney revived herself personally, but her professional career was never the same, despite having several more hits. Then, with the release of Britney Jean in 2013, Spears’ career almost came to a complete crash. Idolator talked about the sales disappointment of Britney Jean in December of 2013.
“There’s no nice way to say this. Britney Spears’ most personal album is chart poison. With sales significantly lower than expected, Britney Jean looks set to debut around #5 on the Billboard 200 with an early, very modest first-week number of just 108,461 copies coming in — making it the worst opening bow of the superstar’s career.”
The first week of sales for Spears came during the Christmas shopping season, which made the numbers even more disappointing. However, Britney Spears soon started a Las Vegas residency. Although early reviews were mixed, the show has been successful enough to continue until this day. Despite tough competition in Las Vegas from Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey, Spears continues to sell enough tickets to keep adding dates.
One should never completely count Britney Spears out. Even without hit albums, she has a huge fan base that will defend her no mater what. It’s unfortunate, however, that these fans can’t help Britney Spears come up with a hit single or album these days.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]