‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Soundtrack: Will It Be As Big As Its Predecessor?
While the film itself may have received mixed reviews, the soundtrack to last year's Fifty Shades of Grey was given glowing feedback across the board. With the sequel set to hit theaters, questions are being raised if the new lineup of tracks can live up to its predecessor.
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Guest Post by Emily Blake on Next Big Sound
When E.L. James’ S&M sensation Fifty Shades of Grey got the big-screen treatment last year with a Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed film, it was a box office smash — grossing over $571 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo — but so critically hated that Rolling Stone called it “about as erotic as an ad for Pottery Barn.” But there was one thing that was almost universally agreed upon: The soundtrack is awesome.
Fifty Shades of Grey: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack had no shortage of superstars — boasting a who’s-who list of artists like Beyoncé, The Weeknd and Sia — and gained the approval of many critics. The Verge called it “one of the best albums of 2015,” and it performed as such: It debuted at №2 on the Billboard 200 chart and went on to become the seventh best-selling album of 2015, spawning two top 20 singles and selling 2.2 million copies worldwide. On top of that, it helped take The Weeknd from elusive outsider to pop superstar with Earned It. That song remains the highest-performing Weeknd song on Pandora, with over 600 million streams to date.
So will the soundtrack to Fifty Shades Darker — the sequel slated for release on Feb. 10 — live up to its predecessor? So far, it seems that they’re trying to repeat history by sticking to the same recipe.
The Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack was home to two reworked Beyoncé songs, with the Michael Diamond remix of Haunted and a remix of Crazy in Love. We’ve only heard two songs of the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, but it’s already starting to look very familiar. Fans got their first taste of the soundtrack when a new Fifty Shades Darker trailer was released in September, featuring a Miguel cover of — you guessed it– a Beyoncé song.
Miguel’s Crazy in Love is not yet available on streaming platforms, but we do know that in the week after the trailer hit, both of the Fifty Shades of GreyBeyoncé remixes songs saw notable upticks in Track Station Adds on Pandora. On the day of the trailer’s release, the Crazy in Love remix saw close to 400 Track Station Adds.
Miguel’s Crazy in Love is not yet available on streaming platforms, but we do know that in the week after the trailer hit, both of the Fifty Shades of GreyBeyoncé remixes songs saw notable upticks in Track Station Adds on Pandora. On the day of the trailer’s release, the Crazy in Love remix saw close to 400 Track Station Adds.
Both artists saw a buzz in social media activity upon the single’s release on Dec. 9, but the biggest standout was Twitter. This week compared to last week, Swift saw a 333.8% increase in mentions, while Zayn saw a week-on-week 235.5% jump.
But the song didn’t just get people talking. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever is showing early signs of success. It’s already at №25 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart, and the magazine projects that the single will make a “monster debut” on the Hot 100 next week.
Only time will tell, but the future’s looking mighty bright for Fifty Shades Darker.
This article first appeared on Forbes.com on December 15.
