"Love Me" is a song by Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

and features American producer

DJ Frank E Justin Franks, known professionally as DJ Frank E, is an American DJ and record producer from Denver, Colorado. Frank E started working closely with Adelio Lombardi, founder of Side 3 Entertainment and owner of Side 3 Studios in Denver, while ...

as an uncredited artist. It was written by

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

, Philip Lawrence,

Ari Levine The Smeezingtons were an American songwriting and record production team consisting of Bruno Mars (born 1985), Philip Lawrence (born 1980), and Ari Levine (born May 5, 1984). The Smeezingtons were established in Los Angeles, California; their ...

Peter Svensson Anders Peter Svensson is a Swedish record producer, songwriter, and musician. He is the main songwriter and guitarist of the band the Cardigans. He started playing guitar at the age of eight, and in his teens he went on to play with local ban ...

and

Nina Persson Nina Elisabet Persson (; born 6 September 1974) is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish rock band The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and one under her own name, and has also appeared as a ...

, and produced by

. The song was released exclusively to iTunes as the first promotional single from Bieber's debut studio album, '' My World'', on October 26, 2009. An electropop song which also contains dance-pop and R&B elements, the chorus interpolates the 1996 single "

Lovefool "Lovefool" is a song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish rock band the Cardigans' third studio album, '' First Band on the Moon'' (1996). It was released as the album's lead single in Sweden in mid-1996 and on 9 September 1 ...

" by the Swedish band

the Cardigans The Cardigans is a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1992 by guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Post-hiatus shows sin ...

. "Love Me" was one of the most well-received tracks on the album, with critics complimenting its electro and club feel and its usage of the "Lovefool" sample. The song peaked in Canada and in the U.S. at twelve and thirty-seven, respectively. The song also charted in the United Kingdom on its main chart and R&B chart, and in Australia. The music video for the song was released on August 3, 2010 and serves as a "tribute to his worldwide fans, thanking them for their support". The dominant scenes are made of up of live performances, behind-the-scenes footage, and Bieber standing in front of a blue and white backdrop dancing. Bieber opened every show on his

My World Tour The My World Tour was the debut concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It is Bieber's first concert tour which supports his two-part debut EP and debut studio album ''My World'' (2009) and '' My World 2.0'' (2010). The tour was officiall ...

with the song.

Background

The song was produced by

at Side 3 Studios in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It was recorded by Bill Malina at Serenity Sound Studio in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. Mixing was done by

Dave Pensado Dave Pensado is a Grammy Award-winning mix engineer. His career began in Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s doing live and studio sound engineering. He has lived in Los Angeles since 1990. He mixes between 200 and 250 songs a year at Larrabee Studios ...

and Jaycen-Joshua Fowler, at Larrabee Studios in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

. Taylor Graves and

Bonnie McKee Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Trouble'', was released in 2004 under Reprise Records. After underperforming, McKee was dropped by her label and took a musical hiatus before es ...

provided background vocals.'' My World'' digital album booklet via iTunes. ( Island Records) Bieber originally stated that the third single from his debut album to be released exclusively on iTunes would be an acoustic remix of his

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, " One Time", and that it would be released on October 27, 2009. However plans were changed, and a week before the release, Bieber announced that a new song, "Love Me" would be released. It was released a day early on October 26. Bieber took to

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

with his shock saying that he was surprised himself.

Composition

"Love Me" is a pop song, which makes use of guitars/ bass and drums sounds. The chorus interpolates the song "

" by the Swedish band

. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing, Ltd., "Love Me" is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

. The song is composed in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

with Bieber's vocals spanning from the low-note of B₃ to the high-note of E₅. The song follows in the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of Cm–A–E–B

Reception

The song was one of the most well-received on the album. Mikael Wood of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' said "Bieber's better on "Love Me", where he riffs on

' "

" atop a killer electro-glam groove."Wood, Mikael
Review: ''My World''
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-11-17. Mark Hirsh The ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', which was one of the few reviewers that gave the album a mixed analysis, said that "Love Me" was the essential song on the set.Justin Bieber, 'My World'
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-12-08 ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' also cited the song as one of the album's best, referring to it as a "modest club track." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said the track is "probably the only release in recent memory that owes debts to both the Cardigans." Mike Diver of

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

called the song an "electro-infused reinterpretation of The Cardigans' Lovefool, where Bieber exhibits the right kind of attitude, playful and endearing." Diver preferred Bieber in the song and wanted more of "the cheeky chap rightfully having the time of his young life", rather than the "adolescent playboy". "Love Me" had debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 and ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at twelve and thirty-seven. It spent twelve non-consecutive weeks on the Canadian chart and four in the United States. On the week ending January 10, 2010, "Love Me" entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at eighty-two, and later peaked at seventy-one. It also debuted and peaked on the UK R&B chart at twenty-three, remaining on the chart for three weeks. It debuted and peaked in Australia at 100.

Music video

The music video for "Love Me" was directed by

Alfredo Flores Alfredo Flores (born June 16, 1988) is an American director, videographer and photographer known for directing music videos and documentaries. He frequently collaborates with artists such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Karol G, Sabrina Carpent ...

with Bieber as co-director. It was released on August 3, 2010. Bieber said the video serves as a "tribute to his worldwide fans, thanking them for their support". The dominant scenes are made of up of live performances. Other scenes of the video feature behind-the-scenes footage such as; rehearsal sessions, fan meet and greets, making radio appearances, jokingly walking around with toilet paper sticking out of his pants, and scenes with friends and family. Bieber's mentor, Usher, also makes an appearance in the video. The video also incorporates Bieber standing in front of a "simple

hite Hite or HITE may refer to: *HiteJinro, a South Korean brewery **Hite Brewery *Hite (surname) *Hite, California, former name of Hite Cove, California *Hite, Utah, a ghost town * HITE, an industrial estate in Pakistan See also *''Hite v. Fairfax ...

backdrop" dancing and "draw nghearts in the air, presumably directed at his loving fanbase" relative to the songs theme, "Love Me".

Promotion

Bieber performed the song several times including at the new

Microsoft Store Microsoft Store (formerly known as Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It started as an app store for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform app ...

grand opening in Mission Viejo, California, on the

Fearless Tour The Fearless Tour was the first headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, launched in support of her second studio album, ''Fearless'' (2008). Big Machine Records announced the first 52-date North American leg in Januar ...

, on his radio promotion tour and

Jingle Ball iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHear ...

tour, and CBS's ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...

'' as a part of their Super Bowl programming. He also performed it in an unaired segment of VH1's Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam, and at the 2010 Houston Rodeo with

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

. Bieber performed the song at a concert at the

Hollywood Palladium The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an dance floor including a mezzanine and a floor level with room for up to 4,000 ...

. In a review of the performance, August Brown of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', said commended the song, saying the song "tacks the indie-pop chorus from the Cardigans’ "Lovefool" onto en-vogue trance synthesizers and martial dance beats."

Credits and personnel

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

–

, Philip Lawrence,

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

–

Background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

– Taylor Graves,

* Vocal production and recording – Bill Malina and DJ Frank E, assisted by Paul Bailey and JP "The Specialist" Negrete * Mixing – Jaycen Joshua-Fowler and

, assisted by Giancarlo Lino

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Me (Justin Bieber Song) 2000s ballads 2009 songs Justin Bieber songs Dance-pop songs Synth-pop ballads Song recordings produced by DJ Frank E Songs written by Ari Levine Songs written by Bruno Mars Songs written by Nina Persson Songs written by Peter Svensson Songs written by Philip Lawrence (songwriter)