Talk:Mercy (Shawn Mendes song)

Promotional single or single?

Shawn Mendes discography lists this song as a single, while Illuminate (Shawn Mendes album) states that this is a promotional single. There is an actual album cover for the song itself, as you can find that through the record label. However, the iTunes digital download appears to only show the Illuminate cover art and not the Mercy cover art for Mercy - Single (iTunes). Is this song a promotional single, or is it released as an actual single? —SomeoneNamedDerek (talk) 02:08, 3 September 2016 (UTC)

It's really getting increasingly difficult to discern whether or not a song is a full single release, because there's evidence for that along with it being a promotional single. I feel that it being on Island Records' website and having its own cover art weighs in favour of it being a full single, but it also feels like one of those songs that Justin Bieber released leading up to the release of Purpose that hasn't gotten a large push (at least yet) in terms of radio adds and performances and such that helps it climb charts. It seems as if promotional singles usually debut high for one week and then fall off as downloads decrease because they don't have sustained attention being drawn to them, but with singles it's a more sustained climb and fall because of the ongoing push. I'm sure in time it will become evident, as usually somebody (if not Mendes himself) usually says upon another single's release "this is the official second single", but for now I'm leaning in favour of full single. Ss112 02:24, 3 September 2016 (UTC)