Was Femme Fatale successful?

[Ignacio]

Let's go back to 2011. It was January, and the Army was freaking out over a leaked demo of Britney's alleged new single sang by Bonnie McKee. It wasn't long before the queen took to twitter to confirm that it was indeed her new song that leaked, and on January 10 the song had its grand premiere on Ryan Seacrest. 

 

The album's lead single, "Hold It Against Me", debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with first week sales of 411,000. She beat the previous record for most downloads in a first week by a female artist, as well as most radio plays during a first day, registering 619 plays on Mediabase and 595 plays on Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS). As of June 2012, "Hold It Against Me" has sold 1,520,000 paid digital downloads in the United States.

 

 

The music video was released to great scrutiny, as it included a male body double, impersonating Britney in several scenes. Prior to its release, team Britney teased the video, showing dance scenes, showing what seemed to be the return of pre-breakdown Britney. It currently has 93 million views and is close to being VEVO certified.

 

"Till The World Ends" leaked on March 3rd. Britney's team said it was only a demo version (a lie, as usual), and that the official version would be released the morning after on Ryan Seacrest. The song would become Spears' highest-charting song on the radio in her entire career. The song sold 117,000 copies after its first three days of sales in the United States, debuting at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of March 9, 2011. It later peaked at #3. A remix was released, featuring Nicki Minaj and original songwriter Kesha. 

 

Two versions of the music video were released

 

 

Britney Spears' seventh studio album "Femme Fatale", was released on March 29th to great critical reception. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone commented that it "may be Britney's best album; certainly it's her strangest," rating it 4/5 stars. It holds a score of 67 out of 100 at Metacritic. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 276k. This gave Britney her sixth debut at the top of the charts, leaving her in a three way tie for third most number one albums for a female artist, tied with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. It sold 432,000 copies worldwide in it's first week. 

 

The third single would be "I Wanna Go." On the chart issue of August 4, 2011, the song climbed from number 11 to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, making Femme Fatale the first album by Spears to achieve three top ten singles. "I Wanna Go" peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 on the chart issue of August 24, 2011. The song peaked at #1 of the Pop Songs chart on September 24, 2011, becoming Spears' sixth single to top the chart, and setting a record for the longest span of number-one singles by an artist (12 years, seven months and four days). The music video was released on June 22, and featured a more playful side of Britney.

 

 

After winning 2 moon men at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards -Michael Jackson Video Vanguard and Best Pop Video- Spears announced the 4th single from her new album would be fan chosen Criminal, despite the real fan favourite being Inside Out (several fans including me are pressed to this day   ). The song peaked at #19 on Billboard's Pop Songs chart on November 19, 2011. It peaked at #55 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It went #1 in Brazil. The music video was cute I guess.

 

 

On June 16, 2011, Spears embarked on the ambitious Femme Fatale tour, where she would tour 4 continents over 6 months. The Femme Fatale Tour received positive to mixed reviews from critics. Some described it as her most entertaining show yet and praised Spears's performance, while others criticized her dancing and lack of interaction. The Femme Fatale Tour grossed $6.2 million in the first ten shows, and was included on Pollstar's Top 100 North American Tours list. This was the first time Britney toured all of South America properly.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVyzhl4LWZg

 

Additionally, Britney scored another #1 by being featured in Rihanna's remix for her song "S&M".

 

TL;DR: Femme Fatale smashed. What do you think?

[kermit]

the singles did great but the album did lukewarm. i think we just see it as a smash now that bj did worse.

[WeKeepOnRockin]

Hell yeah, it was successful. 2 certified videos, 2 #1 singles, 1 Top 10 single, and a minor-hit 4th single. 

 

It's also certified platinum and had a successful tour. 

[Hilary Duff]

Hell yeah, it was successful. 2 certified videos, 2 #1 singles, 1 Top 10 single, and a minor-hit 4th single.

It's also certified platinum and had a successful tour.

[David]

Singles sold and charted extremely well but I will never understand why the album sold so poorly. Barely 1.8 copies sold worldwide? ARTPOP sold as much with flop singles. 

[Britney_Dorgas]

In numbers it was a flawless era, even the Femme Fatale Tour DVD was successful. But as a performer and promo interviews it was a mess

[ashley]

It did moderately well yes.

[IfUSeekAmyTonight]

no, the singles were tho

[Archie]

I can't complain about this Era, I love everything about it! I was able to watch her live for the very first time. I love the BMA performances too

[WeKeepOnRockin]

TBH, any album that gets a 4th single is considered successful

[Lust]

Holly cow yes 

[1981]

3 top 10's... I wished she was in better shape (body/mind) while promoting. Promo was whack & cringeworthy.

[WeKeepOnRockin]

no, the singles were tho

The album sold 2 million copies worldwide and according to an illegal download site (forgot what it was called) it was their most downloaded album of 2013.

 

The tour also was 80% sold out if I remember correctly. 

[lboogie]

I think from the outside looking in, it appeared to be successful as the singles were successful and it was a number 1 album; however, looking at it as a fan, they could've promoted it more and it wasn't as hyped up as her previous eras. I was happy with it, though.

[Ignacio]

I think from the outside looking in, it appeared to be successful as the singles were successful and it was a number 1 album; however, looking at it as a fan, they could've promoted it more and it wasn't as hyped up as her previous eras. I was happy with it, though.

 

Looking at it as a fan, it got barely any promotion and was barely hyped, yet it was still pretty successful. For me that's a smash era 

[James]

Yes

 

except Criminal

[PopMusicJunkie]

TL;DR: Femme Fatale smashed. What do you think?

 

 

  @ your whole post.

 

This album was not only a success on radio but also jump started the pop-dubstep trend that followed.  So I don't get the "generic" slams against Femme Fatale.  It really was a forward-thinking pop album that incorporated various styles of dance in a cohesive manner.  Lyrically there wasn't much progression, I can agree with the criticism there.

[WeKeepOnRockin]

I think from the outside looking in, it appeared to be successful as the singles were successful and it was a number 1 album; however, looking at it as a fan, they could've promoted it more and it wasn't as hyped up as her previous eras. I was happy with it, though.

2 promo performances is hardly "not much promo" tho...

[lboogie]

Looking at it as a fan, it got barely any promotion and was barely hyped, yet it was still pretty successful. For me that's a smash era 

Yeah, that's true. That's what I mean, though, as fans, we expected her to promote it more and be everywhere since that's what she did with her previous albums, which is why a lot of fans weren't that happy with it. Although it was an overall successful era, in the general public's eyes, the fans knew it could've been a lot better.  

[Supernatural]

It was a very successful era despite what bitter people think. The album wasn't so great but it was successful. 

[Fiyero]

Yeah for sure

[lboogie]

2 promo performances is hardly "not much promo" tho...

I never said that, though. I just said it could've been promoted more. 

[The Dream]

Yes, it was  All the singles and videos were popular and it was her best era for the radio! 

[Archie]

By the way, I was one of the fans who voted for Criminal

[ALEX -II- 11O39]

Yes!