NEWS

A lot of debate

There has been a lot of debate about whether the official World Cup anthem of 2014 performed by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte is a success. Some called it catchy and energetic while others ridicule it for the minimal appearances of Lopez and Leitte, and its lack of authenticity.

Looking at the facts, “We Are One” has struggled, spending only three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.* However, since its release in April, it has sold 105,000 downloads in the U.S. to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Sales spiked after it was performed at the World Cup Opening ceremony, selling a personal record of 22,000 downloads that week.* And, the official “We Are One” video has been viewed an ample 152 million times.

Although these statistics don’t define a failure, they pale in comparison to the performance of Shakira and Freshlyground’s “Waka Waka,” the 2010 World Cup song. “Waka Waka” spent 18 weeks on the Hot 100 and sold 57,000 downloads during its best week. In total, the track sold 1.8 million downloads in the U.S. alone.* Even though only 274,000 of those downloads were sold during World Cup weeks, “We Are One” is not even near to approaching those numbers.

So, why isn’t “We Are One” doing better? Basically, because it’s not such a good song. Structurally weak, the song lacks coherence and a catchy melody. It tries too hard, squeezing too many different parts into one song. Unfortunately, despite its superstar combination, this track hasn’t quite reached the next level.

By: Joanne Kinnen 

*Source: Billboard.com