Justin Bieber posted a series of instructions to his fans with various methods to help get his new single ‘Yummy’ to the top of the charts – including a request for international fans to use Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to skew US streaming figures in his favour.
- Read more: Justin Bieber: The Full NME Cover Story
VPNs include the ability to hide IP addresses, meaning that fans outside the US could configure their streaming platform to make it appear us though the plays came from within the country, which is exactly what the instructions suggest.
The series of slides were originally shared on a fan account, before being reposted on the ‘I Don’t Care’ singer’s official Instagram page, though it has since been deleted.
The post also suggests Bieber fans, AKA Beliebers, play the song quietly on repeat while they sleep: “Create a playlist with Yummy on repeat and stream it. Don’t mute it! Play at a low volume. Let it play while you sleep.” See a screenshot of the VPN slide below.
imagine being so desperate to get ur lame ass song to #1 that you make a slideshow presentation telling ur fans to use a VPN… yikes #justinbieberisoverparty pic.twitter.com/jkP7TIFJ91
— anna (@alyciasbish) January 11, 2020
Social media users were quick to call out the cynical tactics, including Enter Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds, who labelled the move a way of “cheating the system”.
what do yous make of this? everyone galvanises a fanbase to try get results but the shamelessness/specificity of cheating the system here… and complete disregard for the music (ie it don’t matter, just get it to no.1 ffs!)
Duno whether to laugh or be sad at the desperation https://t.co/sWxN7rDxBC— ʀ⎊ᴜ ʀᴇʏɴ⎊ (@RouReynolds) January 11, 2020
The higher people climb, the more comfortable and content you’d think they’d get.
But if winning has always been your reality, your norm, then change and loss become increasingly terrifying.— ʀ⎊ᴜ ʀᴇʏɴ⎊ (@RouReynolds) January 11, 2020
Earlier this week (January 9), Bieber revealed he has Lyme disease.
The singer took to Instagram to confirm he has been diagnosed with the illness, which is a bacterial infection caused by ticks.
“It’s been a rough couple years,” he wrote, adding that he was also suffering from a chronic viral infection.
The singer shared the post after he became aware of social media speculation that he had a drug problem, after he was pictured looking unwell with blotches on his skin.
He added: “While a lot of people kept saying Justin Bieber looks like shit, on meth etc, they failed to realise I’ve been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my, skin, brain function, energy, and overall health.”
