If Justin Bieber’s upcoming single “Heartbreaker’s” frequent appearance on Twitter’s worldwide trending topics (as it did today) is anything to go by, the singer’s manager Scooter Braun may not need to do half the things he’s been hinting at regarding the new album.
Anticipation for fresh sounds from the Bieb’s is seriously high among the 19-year-old’s fervent fan base.
Nevertheless, Braun has been elaborating (sort of) on his previous reveals about “Heartbreaker’s” mandate for the pop star to “speak for himself” and end the [ tabloid media ] “witch hunt,” and says the new songs will also celebrate and thank fans for their loyalty and devotion.
We’ll say this for Braun and Bieber, they think big.
“For this project, we want to do things a little bit differently,” Braun told MTV News .
“And there are more songs than 10 or 12, so if you have more music and you have more things you want to express, you gotta think out the box, and [think] ‘How do I get this out there in a unique way where it gets directly to my fans and I can express myself through music directly to them?’ And I think that’s what it’s about when you have people who are incredibly creative, things happen.”
This doesn’t exactly explain the release approach. But, noting “Heartbreaker” will drop “suddenly,” it seems the element of surprise is part of Bieber’s new music campaign.
Braun previously said Bieber’s new songs — the 240 plus Believe tour penned rough-cuts referred to as #musicjournals — will come out “in a different way than the normal album” to allow the teen to “express himself in music while dealing with so many different bulls**t stories every single day.”
Whether the release of Bieber’s album will entail something akin to the model used by hip-hop titan Jay-Z for Magna Carta… Holy Grail — cue estimated $20 million deal between Samsung and Roc Nation , a half-time NBA final TV commercial spot, and giveaway of 1 million copies of the record 72 hours before its official release by giving Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Note II owners first dibs to buy the album using a free Google Play store app — remains to be seen.
Seeing how Bieber enthused about Kanye West’s Yeezus — who went for broke before its June 18 launch (albeit it leaked) with film projections of “New Slaves” on the outside of 66 buildings around the world, a debut of “Black Skinheads” on Saturday Night Live , listening parties, a five track drop at the Governor’s Ball, and a massive profile boost when Skinheads featured in Martin Scorsese’s first trailer for the upcoming The Wolf of Wall Street — it’s more than likely varied and interesting promotions and sync deals for his new material are in the works.
Not being yoked to a traditional album release cycle is about making Bieber’s new album accessible to the fans, says Braun:
“I think it depends on what kind of music you’re making and how you’re trying to release it,” adding, “but when you’re giving something that’s really for the fans, which is what Justin wants this to be, [then you can come up with new strategies].”
The 32-year-old was honest about the fact that Bieber “wants to show growth,” reiterating that “he wants to speak for himself.” It also sounds like the multi-tasking New Yorker is totally on board with helping to realize his artist’s vision. “These are very creative people and you can’t put them in a box and there’s nothing against the normal way of doing things. We will do that again.”
Over on the film end of things, plans for the follow up to the hugely successful Jon M. Chu helmed 2011 concert-biopic Never Say Never are moving apace. Based on the ongoing Believe world tour, aptly the movie’s working title is Believe .
Braun’s update :
“With everything that’s going on and happened recently, we’re just figuring out the appropriate way to distribute that as well. We’ve had all the offers in the world and people who have seen it love it, but we just want to figure out a unique way to get it out there as well. We’re deciding. We have a lot of options and we’re just figuring out which one we like the most.”
For now though “Heartbreaker” is next on Bieber’s “To Do” list, which means the tweet he posted today is already making 41 million people very happy.
studio with #heartbreaker today. finishing touches
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) July 8, 2013