I Don't Care (Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber song)

"I Don't Care" marks the fourth collaboration between Sheeran and Bieber; they had both contributed guest vocals on Lil Dicky's 2019 song "Earth" for Earth Day 2019, in addition to co-writing Bieber's 2015 song "Love Yourself", and Major Lazer's 2016 song "Cold Water", which featured Bieber and Danish singer MØ.^[11][12]

The song was produced by Max Martin, Shellback, and Fred Again. It was Sheeran's first release of new music in two years, since his Grammy-winning album ÷ in March 2017.^[13]

"I Don't Care" is performed in the key of F♯ major with a tempo of 100 beats per minute in common time. It follows a chord progression of F♯–D♯m–B–C♯, and the vocals span two octaves, from C♯₃ to C♯₅.^[14] The song has been noted for its similarity to English singer Cheryl's 2014 single also titled "I Don't Care".^[15]

Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis gave the song four stars out of five, praising the synergy between two "seismic stars", who have previously collaborated on "Love Yourself", and describing the chorus as "breezily infectious."^[16] Craig Jenkins of Vulture called the lyrics "down-to-earth" and praised the combination of Bieber's "ear for pop sounds" and Sheeran's "knack for a soaring melody", noting that Bieber and Sheeran complement each other in their talents.^[17]

Writing for Pitchfork, Quinn Moreland stated that the song "just hangs around apathetically and threatens never to leave your brain."^[18]

Both Sheeran and Bieber have shared posts alluding to an upcoming release on their respective social media accounts. Bieber initially tweeted "Big fan" at Sheeran, and several days later, posted pictures of himself and Sheeran wearing Hawaiian shirts and standing in front of a green screen. Bieber also posted an edit of the pictures, with himself "spooning" Sheeran, with the caption "10". Several days later, he posted the number 7 against a black background, and the next day tweeted "6", which was reported as a countdown set to end on 10 May.^[19][4][11] The same day, Sheeran and Bieber also shared the same poll on their Instagram accounts, asking followers "Do you want new music?" with the options "Yes", "No" and "IDC".^[4]

On 5 May, Sheeran and Bieber shared a short clip of the song on their Instagram of him saying they have "new music" coming out, before showing his computer and pressing play on a file named "idc_v05.10.wav".^[6] Bieber previewed part of the same file on his Instagram after Sheeran, confirming his involvement, as well as tagging Sheeran with the caption "Friday".^[5] The full title and release date were formally announced on both artists' social media on 7 May.^[7][8]

On Spotify, "I Don't Care" which garnered astonishing 16.241 million streams in the first 24 hours, debuted with 10.977 million daily global streams, breaking the streaming platform's single-day streaming record and subsequently topping the previous record of 10.819 million, set by Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You".^[20][21] It has topped the Spotify Global chart for six weeks as of June 2019.^[22] It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 17 May 2019, becoming Sheeran's sixth and Bieber's seventh UK number one and remaining there for eight consecutive weeks.^[23][24] On the chart dating 25 May 2019, it debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 behind "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus and stayed at that position for a second week.^[25][26] The song also became Sheeran's fourth number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40, while it marked Bieber's sixth number one on the chart.^[27] On Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay, it became the second number one for Sheeran and the fifth chart-topper for Bieber.^[28]

Music video

The music video for "I Don't Care" was released on 17 May 2019. It was directed by Emil Nava, and filmed in Japan and LA.^[29][30]

The video was described by Liz Calvario of ET Online as a "fun and playful visual" for the song, which she described as a "feel-good track".^[29]

The music video was released on 17 May 2019.^[31]

Lyric video

The lyric video for "I Don't Care" was released on 10 May 2019.^[32][33]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[34]

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