Put Your Hearts Up

Background and composition

Grande began working on her debut album while she was filming Victorious and formally started to work on it with a record label after she was signed to Universal Republic Records on August 10, 2011. By September 10, Grande already had twenty songs prepared and was going through the process of narrowing it down to thirteen.

"Put Your Hearts Up" was written by Matt Squire, Linda Perry and Martin Johnson. It was released as her first single on December 12, 2011. Despite not appearing on her debut album Yours Truly, it was intended as the lead single for the album at the time of release. "Put Your Hearts Up" is a "50s, 60s doo-wop-inspired" bubblegum pop song which talks about making the world a better place.

Release and cover

Grande let her fans choose the song's cover by allowing them to vote on four possible covers for the single via her Twitter account. After fans voted, the cover was chosen and the release date for the single was announced via Twitter on November 29, 2011. "Put Your Hearts Up" was originally going to be released on December 20, 2011, but was released earlier. "Put Your Hearts Up" premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on December 9, 2011 and became available for digital download through iTunes three days later.

After release

In an interview on Kidd Kraddick in the Morning she said, "It was a learning experience for sure. Sonically it's just not my vibe. I think it would've been a great hit song for somebody else maybe, but it's just not what I like to sing. It's a bubblegum pop record for sure, and I like to sing stuff that's a little more soulful. I love pop music, I'm a huge pop music fan, but I just didn't think that that record was right for me." In an interview published in the August 2013 issue of Seventeen, Grande said, "It was bubblegum pop, which isn't me, but it was something I thought my fans wanted."

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2014, Grande said that "Put Your Hearts Up" "was geared toward kids and felt so inauthentic and fake. That was the worst moment of my life. For the video, they gave me a bad spray tan and put me in a princess dress and had me frolic around the street. The whole thing was straight out of hell. I still have nightmares about it, and I made them hide it on my Vevo page."

Music video

The music video for "Put Your Hearts Up" was shot on November 23, 2011. It was directed by Meiert Avis and Jeremy Alter. On February 14, 2012, the official music video was uploaded on YouTube under ArianaGrandeVevo at a length of 3 minutes and 49 seconds. The video had gained more than 40 million views as of May 2014. In the video, Grande walks through the streets of a city sending love to lonely people while dancing and singing. Prior to this, the video had been uploaded by other channels.

Later in March 2013, when "The Way" music video was released, the music video for "Put Your Hearts Up" was made unlisted on Grande's Vevo account at Grande's request.

Commercial performance

The single sold 170,000 downloads by August 2013. On July 20, 2014 it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for combined sales and streams of 500,000 units in the US.

Certifications

References

References

1. (January 2011). "Put Your Hearts Up - Single by Ariana Grande on Apple Music".
2. (January 2011). "Put Your Hearts Up – Single by Ariana Grande". [[Apple Inc..
3. "Here's a photo of me with my @republicrecords contract! Freshly signed. Thank you again @republicrecords. :D ♥".
4. "Universal Republic Records Announces the Signing of Ariana Grande". Reuters.
5. (September 12, 2011). "Ariana Grande Talks Music at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2011". YouTube.
6. (December 12, 2011). "Ariana Grande Debuts New Single, 'Put Your Hearts Up'". Huffington Post.
7. "First Look:"Put Your Hearts Up" Cover Art". BopAndTigerBeat.com.
8. "Put Your Hearts Up".
9. Grande, Ariana. (March 26, 2013). "Ariana Grande on Kidd Kraddick in the Morning". Youtube.
10. Mateo, Ashley. (August 2013). "Ariana Grande". Seventeen Magazine.
11. Greene, Andy. (2014-05-22). "How Ariana Grande and Max Martin Made 'Problem' the Song of the Summer".
12. "YouTube".
13. (14 May 2014). "ArianaGrandeVevo - YouTube".
14. (30 May 2014). "YouTube".
15. Lipshutz, Jason. (August 16, 2013). "Ariana Grande's Grand Entrance: Inside The Nickelodeon Star's Debut Album – Billboard".