Case Study: Havana Brown’s American appeal

While Gotye, Lorde and Tame Impala have been feted in their homeland(s) for their recent international success, Havana Brown has been quietly ticking over millions of US sales, topping the Billboard Club Chart three separate times in the process.

We Run The Night, Brown’s debut single, went Platinum in America, selling over one million copies in the States, and peaking at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 – making her the first Australian female artist to sell one million singles in the US since Olivia Newton-John did so in 1981 (a criminally under-reported fact). The single also sold triple-Platinum in Australia.

In October 2012, with the record having just hit the million mark, Brown told TMN that her sales success came down to relentless touring, with the EDM artist hitting almost every state in the US. “If you want to give it a shot in the States, you really have to dedicate yourself – and that’s what I did”, she explained at the time. “It is so intense, and you realise that if you visit five cities, it’s not going to help – you need to visit everywhere, you need to really cross the entire country.”

Big Banana became her second single to top the Billboard Club Chart in January 2013, selling Platinum in Australia. Flashing Lights – the title track from her ARIA #6  album – was the third single to top the Billboard Club Chart, last November.

Havana Brown’s latest single Whatever We Want looks set to be her fourth to top this chart: it features Richard Visson, who has amassed a staggering forty #1 Billboard Dance Chart remixes; was the most added track at Australian radio last week; and comes off the back of a worldwide tour of sold-out club shows, and a recent Las Vegas support slot with Billboard’s Artist of 2013, Bruno Mars. In addition, she has sold over 2.5 million singles worldwide, and received 40 million YouTube views. All this bodes rather well for Havana’s continued US success.