We Belong Together: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:59, 5 February 2006

Revision as of 19:04, 5 February 2006

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During the last week of May 2005, the [[DJ Clue]] remix of the song, being sold exclusively through [[ITunes|iTunes]], was offered as a free download through Carey's official website. Apparently, these free downloads affected the Hot 100 chart placings the week that "We Belong Together" ascended to number one. The situation prompted letters to be written to ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' columnist [[Fred Bronson]], asking if it was possible that free downloads were accidentally counted while compiling that week's Hot 100 chart. Originally, Bronson stated that the downloads did not help the song reach its position, but subsequently replied in his "Chart Beat Chat" column on [[June 3]] [[2005]] that Billboard had indeed made a mistake. According to Billboard's director of charts, [[Geoff Mayfield]], their filters were not in place at the time to enforce their policy about free downloads not counting towards the charts. Had the correct filters been in place, "We Belong Together" would probably not have climbed to number one until the following week.{{ref|controv}}

With the situation explained, Carey was accused of using manipulative chart tricks that people believed she had employed when [[Virgin Records|Virgin]] sold Carey's "[[Loverboy (song)|Loverboy]]" (2001) single for an extremely low price (though this does not break any Billboard rule). In regard to this, Bronson also stated that all Carey's previous singles had reached number one legitimately and fairly. Though other songs such as Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl", [[Will Smith]]'s "[[Switch (song)|Switch]]", and [[Gorillaz]]' "[[Feel Good Inc.]]" had also usedfeatured free downloads to succeed on the charts, "We Belong Together" is the single that enforced the new digital filters in Billboard's charts: free downloads no longer count.

==Awards==

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To date, the digital download of "We Belong Together" (counting sales of the original version and the remix) has sold over 698,000 copies. As the song has sold more than 600,000 downloads, it has been certified triple [[platinum single|platinum]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].

"We Belong Together" proved to be a success in the adolescent market, performing well on ''[[Total Request Live]]'' (the video was her second to be retired on the show following "[[Heartbreaker (Mariah Carey song)|Heartbreaker]]") and winning the "Choice Music Love Song" at the 2005 [[Teen Choice Awards]]. It also earned two nominations at the [[MTV Video Music Awards]]: one for [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video|Best Female Video]] and one for [[MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video|Best R&B Video]]. However, it failed to win either, losing Best Female Video to [[Kelly Clarkson]]'s "[[Since U Been Gone]]" and Best R&B Video to [[Alicia Keys]]' "Karma". At the 2005 [[World Music Awards]], "We Belong Together" won the "World's most-played single" award, representing its [[airplay]]. It was eventually named the Hot 100 Song of the Year at the 2005 [[Billboard Music AwardsAward]]s, the first time Carey achieved this feat. A few weeks later, the song won the Song of the Year awards on both Pop and Urban/Rhythmic formats at the 2005 [[Radio Music Awards]]. It has been nominated for four [[Grammy Award]]s, in the categories of "[[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]]", "[[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]]", "[[Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance|Best Female R&B Vocal Performance]]", and "[[Grammy Award for Best R&B Song|Best R&B Song]]".

==Charts==