Britney Articles

Britney Breaks 'N Sync's Radio Record "Oops!...I Did It Again" takes airwaves by storm

Whether or not Britney Spears' upcoming album, Oops!...I Did It Again, will surpass, match or even come close to the staggering first week sales record set by 'N Sync's No Strings Attached remains to be seen. But with the release of her new disc still a month away, Spears has already toppled one 'N Sync record: according to the trade magazine Radio & Records, the album's title track and lead single seized the airwaves last week with more radio station adds in its first week than any other song in history -- including 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye."

A total of 155 radio stations added "Oops!...I Did It Again" to their playlists, just enough to sneak past 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" record of 154 adds, set just last month. The boy band had knocked off Christina Aguilera's "I Turn to You," which previously held the record with 141 adds.

"To give you some idea of how big this kind of a record is, [the previous week] the most added record was Mandy Moore's 'I Want to Be With You,' and that received sixty-seven adds," said Tony Novia, Contemporary Hit Radio editor of Radio & Records. "We have a total of 172 pop radio stations that report to us. When you get that many on the panel, you're talking about radio stations that are truly excited about a record and a record that is making significant impact right out of the box."

Novia claims that Spears' new single has also achieved some unexpected cross-over success. "Even in rhythmic [a category for contemporary R&B and rap], Britney had nineteen adds, which was second," he says. "Our rhythmic panel has sixty-six. So even on a panel where you have big records from Jay-Z and Trick Daddy and Destiny's Child and Big Pun, for Britney to make that kind of impact there is significant. For those stations that tend to lean towards more Hispanic and more hip-hop to reach out and play a Britney Spears record is making a statement."

Spears' highly anticipated sophomore release is slated for release on May 16. The Max Martin/Robert John "Mutt" Lang-produced album was recorded in Sweden and Switzerland and has been oft described by Spears as "more mature" than the ten-million-copy-selling ...Baby One More Time, despite the déjà vu-esque implications of the title. Just one month after dropping the album on fans, Spears will hit the road for a fifty-three date, forty-nine city North American tour that will keep her travelling until mid-September.