Is there time to record a new James Bond theme song?
Billie Eilish’s “No Time to Die” was a bust this winter when it was released in February. Total real sales were 52,000 downloads, although there were ten times as many sales from streaming. The disparity is jarring.
On Spotify, of her top 10 streamed songs, Eilish’s James Bond song is 10th. Her most streamed song is “Bad Guy” with 1.4 billion. “No Time to Die” squeaks in at 178,000,000.*
It wasn’t a bad song, but Eilish’s record was timed to launch the movie in early April. When the movie was moved to November, all the steam went out of the project. Unlike Adele’s “Skyfall,” “No Time to Die” rose up no charts, got little airplay, and vanished.
Now we’re only mid way through the weeks and months until the movie is released on November 20th. Actually five months. Eilish’s single is now much in the past and not particularly exciting. (Sung in a whisper, it wasn’t that exciting to begin with.) The movie needs all new marketing hooks for its release. A new song would certainly help. Even a new recording — a post-pandemic mix– might be a good idea.
Maybe Eilish could drink some coffee before she re-records “No Time to Die” so it doesn’t sound like she actually does have time to die. She and brother Finneas have all summer to jazz it up. It’s not like they’re going on tour.
*I corrected the 178,000 to 178,000,000. It doesn’t matter. The number is very low.
