Apparently Heartless and Blinding Lights were released merely two days from each other. I just found out about this. Why did he do this? Why not focus on one lead single? 

Heartless is the lead. Blinding Lights was a buzz single at first then became 2nd single in March 2020.

Who knows?it worked cause both were big hits 

I think this was around the time where artists started releasing 2 songs at the same time. Sort of like the old formula of a "buzz" single and a lead single , but back then record labels would wait and see which song picks up and decide THAT one is lead and the "flop" one is just a "buzz". 

 

I think artists have done the same after that. 

many artists released multiple songs at the same time, it was a trend for late 2010s

In the event y’all didn’t like one

Not sure about Weeknd specifically, but this used to be a strategy (more common in 2000s), when artists couldn’t figure out which song would perform best.  
 

It always felt like a waste of promo $$$ to me, b/c sometimes dual singles end up cannibalizing each other…and they both have mid performance.  
 

But thankfully it worked in his favor.  

If I remember correctly, BL was initially a promo single for a car commercial lol. 
 

Many artists/labels follow this strategy to test what the commercial market will like.

His team probably thought BL was "too pop" and released Heartless to cater to the mainstream (it was 2019, mind you).

 

Heartless freefalling and BL smashing felt like a turn-of-the-tide moment for pop.

Just now, Virgos Groove said:

His team probably thought BL was "too pop" and released Heartless to cater to the mainstream (it was 2019, mind you).

 

Heartless freefalling and BL smashing felt like a turn-of-the-tide moment for pop.

This too! Heartless was more geared to an urban audience given how 2019 saw a huge rise in R&B, Rap, and Trapsoul sounds.

He did the same for BBTM - dropped The Hills and then a week or so later dropped Can’t Feel My Face.

 

One song is to appease hip hop audiences, the other is pop and radio

Havana/OMG impacT, I fear 

Well Shawn Mendes released In My Blood/ Lost In Japan on Thurs/Fri. This isn't a new concept 

Harry did Watermelon Sugar/Adore You within a couple of weeks, around the same time Abel did Heartless/Blinding Lights. The same thing happened with both, the lead did okay but the buzz single became a massive hit

 

(Blinding Lights was a lot bigger than WS, and Adore You was a lot bigger than Heartless, but the pattern applies)

 

I found it cute that while the label wanted to promote one song, the audience went "um, we actually want the other one"

because he’s cool like that 

This was the trend of the times, for better and for worse. A number of artists had dual single releases.

This is quite common among mainstream artists. Usually both singles are substantially different, with each catering to a specific format.

 

If I Were A Boy/Single Ladies

Halo/Diva

Sweet Dreams/Ego

Broken Hearted-Girl/Video Phone

XO/Drunk In Love

 

Havana/OMG

Liar/Shameless

 

Shape Of You/Castle On The Hill

 

Needed Me/Kiss It Better

 

Sometimes both become hits, sometimes one of them does and sometimes both flop.

he always do that before

The Hills/CFMF

Starboy/Party Monster

 

sending one to pop and one to urban/hip-hop 

57 minutes ago, Kiss It Better said:

he always do that before

The Hills/CFMF

Starboy/Party Monster

 

sending one to pop and one to urban/hip-hop 

this, idk why people are making theories above, like it's pretty clear why this was done, his label wanted to appeal to both sides of his audience, the urban and pop side

 

and it was mostly done right,  aside from Party Monster which is a shame since it's a great song and should have been bigger

2 hours ago, Devin said:

This too! Heartless was more geared to an urban audience given how 2019 saw a huge rise in R&B, Rap, and Trapsoul sounds.

Things have changed so much it was dark times. females over a certain age were immediately relegated to HAC, even Taylor. And most of the songs that were dance hits had to be from faceless artists or a dj group with a feature. 

I have no idea how Heartless sounds 

Beyoncé was doing it since 2008 with Single Ladies and If I Were A Boy. Than with Drunk in Love and XO. 

4 hours ago, Devin said:

This too! Heartless was more geared to an urban audience given how 2019 saw a huge rise in R&B, Rap, and Trapsoul sounds.

Huh? These sounds were already heavily popular from 2014 and 2019 was actually the rise of synth pop and disco like Blinding Lights and Don't Start Now.