In the Zone is the fourth studio album by Serbian singer. It was released on January 11, 2019 through Columbia Records. Its music incorporates dance, house, reggae, trip hop, and hip hop styles with instrumentation from guitars, drums, synthesizers, strings, and Middle Eastern musical instruments. Its themes range from love, dancing, empowerment, and in the case of songs such as "Touch of My Hand", sex and masturbation. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including Bloodshy & Avant, Trixster, Moby, Guy Sigsworth and The Matrix.
Background and development
In November 2016, he released his sophomore album, Self-titled, which portrayed more adult and provocative themes and featured the lead single "I'm a Slave 4 U". The album has sold over four million copies in the United States. The following year, after the Dream Within a Dream Tour in support of Self-titled finalized in July 2017, he announced she would take a break from his career for six months. In November 2017, he revealed that he had started working on his next studio album. He explained, "Well, actually, I just said that I wanted two or three weeks off. [....] And the whole world was like, 'Ohmigod, [sic] he's gone..."
Recording
For In the Zone, Spears worked with hit producers such as Bloodshy & Avant, R. Kelly, Diddy, Christopher Stewart, Moby, Guy Sigsworth and The Matrix. He first started writing songs for In the Zone during the Dream Within a Dream Tour. Singer commented about writing while touring, "The only thing that was scary to me is that I didn't know if they were good. You can’t trust anybody. You have to go with your feelings." Serbian singer commented that he was an autobiographical songwriter, although not to the point he felt self-exploited. Following the end of the tour, he invited his friend and backing vocalist Annet Artani to his home in Los Angeles. They started writing songs at the piano, and shortly after, they traveled to Lake Como in Lombardy, Italy. Among the tracks they worked on was "Everytime"
Promotion
In November 2018, Barry Weiss spoke to Billboard and said that In the Zone was being promoted in a worldwide level, exhausting areas such as print and electronic media, television, radio and video to raise awareness of the album's release. In addition, Columbia worked with lifestyle marketer the Karpel Group to market the album to the gay community. Other broader-based marketing efforts included a tie-in with marketing company LidRock, where after ordering a soda at Domino's, customers received a cup featuring the artwork and a three-inch disc in the lid featuring "Brave New Boy" and songs by two other artists. In December 2018, an updated LidRock disc included a remix of "Me Against the Music" without Madonna, as well as songs by fellow Columbia acts Dove Cameron and Dylan Brady. Regal Theaters also showed a short film that included footage of the making of himself's music videos. Two national TV advertising campaigns began on November 1, 2018, one with a teaser ad in American comedy show Saturday Night Live and another exclusively on MTV. No sponsored cross-marketing campaigns were planned, as Larry Rudolph explained, "[This time] it's going to be more about the music than about corporate tie-ins." In terms of international exposure, during a fourth-month period he was featured in seven mini TV-specials and more than one-hundred and fifty interviews outside the US.
Tour
The Onyx Hotel Tour, which promoted In the Zone, was the third concert tour by him. A tour to promote the album was announced in December 2018. Its original name was the In the Zone Tour, but he was sued for trademark infringement and banned from using the phrase 'in the zone'. He felt inspired to create a show with a hotel theme which he later mixed with the concept of an onyx stone. The stage, inspired by Broadway musicals, was less elaborate than her previous tours.
Him performing "Toxic" at The Onyx Hotel Tour.
Commercial performance
In the United States, In The Zone debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 405,050 album-equivalent units, of which 300,000 were pure album sales. The album had the third highest debut sales of 2019. The album became his third number-one album in the country, becoming the 2nd youngest artist to have 3 number-one albums (behind Justin Bieber). All songs from the album appeared simultaneously on Hot 100, making him the youngest artist to do so. The album would eventually spend 4 more weeks on the top of Billboard 200.
In the United Kingdom, In The Zone debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 86,050 album-equivalent units. The album became singer's third number-one on the chart and marked his largest album opening week to date there. He became the youngest artist in the United Kingdom to have 3 consecutive number 1 albums in the country.
Worldwide, In The Zone was the best selling album of 2019, with 8,010,000 album-equivalent units, making him the youngest artist to have best selling album of the year.
Awards and nomination
| Year | Organization | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Music Awards | Favorite Pop/Rock Album | Nominated | |
| BreakTudo Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Juno Awards | International Album of the Year | Pending | |
| LOS40 Music Awards | Best International Album | Won | |
| People's Choice Awards | Favorite Album | Nominated | |
| Grammy Awards | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Best Pop Vocal Album | Nominated |
Track listing
| Standard Edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Writer | Producer | Length |
| 1. | "Me Against the Music" (featuring Madonna) | Himself · Madonna · Christopher "Tricky" Stewart · Thabiso "Tab" Nkhereanye · Penelope Magnet · Terius Nash · Gary O'Brien | Trixster · Magnet | 3:43 |
| 2. | "I Got That (Boom Boom)" (featuring Ying Yang Twins) | Roy "Royalty" Hamilton · Chyna Royal · Deongelo Holmes · Eric Jackson | Hamilton | 4:51 |
| 3. | "Showdown" | Himself · Cathy Dennis · Christian Karlsson · Pontus Winnberg · Henrik Jonback | Bloodshy & Avant | 3:18 |
| 4. | "Breathe on Me" | Himself · Stephen Lee · Steve Anderson · Lisa Greene | Himself · Mark Taylor | 3:43 |
| 5. | "Early Mornin'" | Himself · Moby · Stewart · Magnet | Moby · Trixter · Magnet | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Toxic" | Himself · Karlsson · Winnberg · Jonback | Himself · Bloodshy & Avant | 3:21 |
| 7. | "Outrageous" | Himself · Hamilton | Hamilton | 3:22 |
| 8. | "Touch of My Hand" | Himself · Jimmy Harry · Balewa Muhammad · Shep Solomon | Himself · Harry · Solomon | 4:19 |
| 9. | "The Hook Up" | Himself · Stewart · Nkhereanye · Magnet | Trixster · Magnet | 3:54 |
| 10. | "Shadow" | Himself · Lauren Christy · Scott Spock · Shawn Mendes | Himself · The Matrix | 3:45 |
| 11. | "The Answer" | Himself · Ryan Leslie · Sean "P. Diddy" Combs | Himself · Combs · Leslie | 3:55 |
| 12. | "Everytime" | Himself | Himself · Guys Sigworth | 3:53 |
| 13. | "Brave New Boy" | Himself · Brian Kierful · Josh Schwartz · Kara DioGuardi | Brian and Josh | 3:53 |
| 14. | "And Then We Kiss" | Himself · Michael Taylor · Paul Barry | Taylor | 3:56 |
Weekly charts
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 1 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 1 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 1 |
| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) | 5 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten) | 4 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts) | 3 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 6 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 1 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 1 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI Greece) | 2 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) | 4 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) | 1 |
| Israeli Albums (IFPI) | 2 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 1 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 5 |
| Mexican Albums (AMPROFON) | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 2 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) | 3 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) | 6 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) | 8 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| South Korean Albums (Gaon) | 3 |
| South Korean Albums International (Gaon) | 2 |
| Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI) | 5 |
| South Africa Albums (RSG) | 13 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 1 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 1 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 1 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 1 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) | Platinum | 70,000 |
| Austria (IFPI Austria) | Platinum | 15,000 |
| Belgium (BEA) | Gold | 15,000 |
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) | 2× Diamond | 360,000 |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 3× Platinum | 240,000 |
| Denmark (IFPI Denmark) | Platinum | 20,000 |
| France (SNEP) | Platinum | 100,000 |
| Germany (BMVI) | Platinum | 200,000 |
| Ireland (IRMA) | 3× Platinum | 45,000 |
| Italy (FIMI) | Platinum | 50,000 |
| Japan (FIMI) | Gold | 100,000 |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Platinum | 15,000 |
| Poland (ZPAV) | Platinum | 20,000 |
| South Korea (Gaon) | Platinum | 250,000 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) | Platinum | 40,000 |
| Sweden (IFPI SWE) | 2× Platinum | 60,000 |
| Switzerland (IFPI SWI) | 4× Platinum | 80,000 |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Platinum | 300,000 |
| United States (RIAA) | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000 |