Following the release of Believe, "Beauty and a Beat" debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at 72 due to strong digital downloads.

Savan Kotecha and Onika Maraj wrote "Beauty and a Beat" with its producers Max Martin and Anton Zaslavski.

[10] Sarah Deen of Metro described it as a "frantic dance track",[6] while Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan called the song a "disco-inferno".

[6] Bieber's then-girlfriend Selena Gomez is referenced in the song during Minaj's rap:[6] "Justin Bieber/You know I'm gonna hit 'em with the ether/Buns out, wiener/But I gotta keep an eye out for Selener.

[13] Becca Longmire of Entertainmentwise felt that the song was impressive; she also compared this with Bieber's previous single "Baby".

According to the video's storyline, in October 2012, 3 hours of personal footage was stolen from Justin and was illegally uploaded by an anonymous blogger.

It starts with a short montage of video clips, and heads into a party at a waterpark featuring dancers, and Nicki Minaj rapping beside Justin in a pool.

[14] All of the waterpark footage was shot on scene at Raging Waters in San Dimas, a suburb of Los Angeles.