"Love Is the Name" is the debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by American recording artist

Sofia Carson Sofía Daccarett Char (born April 10, 1993), known professionally as Sofia Carson, is an American actress and singer. Her first appearance on television was as a guest star on the Disney Channel series '' Austin & Ally''. In 2015, she received ...

. It was written and produced by Steve Mac, with additional songwriting by Ina Wroldsen. The song was released on April 7, 2016 by Hollywood and

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. An official remix featuring Colombian

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American Hip hop m ...

singer

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

was also released on the same day. "Love Is the Name" is an interpolation of Austrian band

Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...

' 1984 single "

Live Is Life "Live Is Life" is a 1984 song by Austrian pop rock band Opus. It was released as the first single from their first live album, ''Live Is Life'' (1984), and was also included on the US version of their fourth studio album, '' Up and Down'' (1984 ...

", which was the main inspiration behind its production. Commercially, it reached the top forty on the

Latin Pop Songs Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established ...

and

Tropical Songs The Tropical Airplay chart (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa and Tropical Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine introduced in 1994. The first number-one song on the chart was " Quien Eres Tu" by Luis Enrique. Originally, ra ...

component charts of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' in the United States, and peaked inside the top thirty in Poland. The song's accompanying music video, directed by

Hannah Lux Davis Hannah Lux Davis (born May 17, 1986) is an American music video, commercial and film director. She's known for her work especially with female artists, such as Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Christ ...

, portrays Carson dancing in the sunset on a beach and in a luxurious mansion. To further promote the song, Carson performed it on the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards. It is included in the Japanese edition of Carson's eponymous debut studio album (2022).

Background and release

"Love Is the Name" was written and produced by Steve Mac, with additional songwriting by Ina Wroldsen. The song is an interpolation of Austrian band

' 1984 single "

", which was the main inspiration behind its production; therefore, the band members are also credited as songwriters. Initially, it was listed on BMI with American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

as the designated artist; however, "Love is the Name" was eventually recorded and released by Carson after she signed a worldwide record deal with Hollywood and

. The singer revealed that "it was a collective decision between the two labels, the ecordingteam, and erself to release it as her debut single:

"I think the fact that the original song was such a global hit already helped a lot, because that melody is very infectious and already in people's minds. We also loved that the song sounded so global, and that's what we want with my music. We want it to be global and very international sounding. We all thought it was a terrific track because I'm a dancer, and dancing is who I am as a performer."

"Love Is the Name" was first serviced to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on April 7, 2016 in the United States, with a premiere on Radio Disney that same day. The song was then made available for sale and global streaming on April 8, along with a remix featuring Colombian

singer

. According to Griselda Flores of ''

'', he adds "

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

flavor to the track with flirtatious Spanish lyrics" such as "No sigas buscando que tú eres para mí (Stop searching because you are meant for me)". Lyrically, Carson described the song as a "celebration of love," further adding that "when I first heard the track .. I flipped. I rolled down all my windows and turned t upso loud." Official remixes by DJ Laszlo, Nando Pro, Mack & Jet Set Vega, MADIZIN and Moto Blanco were also commissioned.

Promotion

The music video for "Love Is the Name" was directed by

and produced by Brandon Bonfiglio, with choreography done by Teresa Espinosa. It was filmed in a luxurious mansion, and includes shots of the singer dancing in the sunset on a beach. The video officially premiered on

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

during Carson's 23rd birthday, on April 10, 2016. On the same day, it was announced that the singer would star in a series of three featurettes called ''Being Sofia'', to further promote the release of the song. On April 30, 2016, Carson recorded a performance of the song on the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards, which aired the following day. She was also named Radio Disney's "Next Big Thing", with a series of videos on her journey launching her music career being released. A remix video featuring J Balvin was released on May 17, 2016. Two years later, on April 17, 2018, the main version of the video surpassed 100 million views on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

Formats and track listings

* Digital download # "Love Is the Name" – 3:27 * Digital download (Remix) # "Love Is the Name" (featuring J Balvin) – 3:52 * Digital download (DJ Laszlo Remix) # "Love Is the Name" J Laszlo Remix– 4:27 * Digital download (Mack and Jet Set Vega Remix) # "Love Is the Name" ack and Jet Set Vega Remix– 4:19 * Digital download (MADIZIN Remix) # "Love Is the Name" (featuring J Balvin) ADIZIN Remix– 3:19 * Digital download (Moto Blanco Remix) # "Love Is the Name"

oto Blanco Remix Oto, Ōtō, or OTO may refer to: People *Oto (name), including a list of people with the name *The Otoe tribe (also spelled Oto), a Native American people Places * Oto, Spain, a village in the Valle de Broto, in Huesca, Aragon * Otorohanga, a to ...

– 4:56 * Digital download (Nando Pro Remix) # "Love Is the Name" (featuring J Balvin) ando Pro Latin Urban Remix– 3:47

Charts

Radio and release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2016 songs Hollywood Records singles Music videos directed by Hannah Lux Davis Republic Records singles Songs written by Steve Mac Songs written by Ina Wroldsen Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Sofia Carson songs