Sabrina Carpenter is really popular right now. She is going on tour for her newest album, Short n’ Sweet and won her first Grammy three months ago. What people don’t realize is Sabrina’s struggle for success.
She started off as an actress, playing a few roles in movies like Adventures in Babysitting (2016), The Hate U Give (2018), Tall Girl (2019) and its sequel Tall girl 2 (2022). Her first acting role was in 2011 when she was only eleven years old and guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). If you can believe it, she’s even voiced a character in a childhood favorite, Sofia the First (2012).
Sabrina Carpenter has been in a dozen movies and TV shows. However, she is most recognized for her role as Maya Hart, one of the main characters in Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World (2014) – a reboot for the show Boy Meets World (1993). Because of this role, people classified her as a “Disney kid.” Two months before Girl Meets World aired, Carpenter released her first Extended Play, or EP, titled “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” One year later, at only fifteen-years-old, she released her first album, Eyes Wide Open.The album was the start of her career in her true passion: singing.
Sabrina signed a contract with Hollywood Records which is owned by Disney Music Group. This is why Eyes Wide Open branded Carpenter as a “teen popstar.” That was the first mistake in Sabrina’s career. Teens didn’t want to listen to bubbly teen pop, they wanted to listen to mainstream artists like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez.
Her first big hit came in 2016. “Thumbs” was the promotional single for her sophomore album, EVOLution, which is both confusing and an earworm. The track reached No. 1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, and No. 28 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. This album transitioned Sabrina out of the teen pop aesthetic, into a more sophisticated, techy sound.
When “Girl Meets World” came to an end at the start of 2017, Sabrina was ready for something new. A lot of “Disney kids” like Miley Cyrus, Dove Cameron, and Britney Spears felt like they needed to go through a big change to shake off the childish, Disney reputation. Sabrina was no different. That’s when Singular Act came in.
The albums Singular: Act I and Singular: Act II were two parts of the same puzzle, with Singular Act: I being released in 2018, and Singular: Act II coming out in 2019. The songs on the albums were a noticeable shift from her previous songs, both in melody and meaning. Singular: Act I and Act II helped display different areas of Sabrina’s musical style. She started to lean on dance-pop and R&B styled music. She moved away from the teenage heartbreak, and into mature themes of self-empowerment, confidence and survival. Clearly, Sabrina wanted to show the world that she was a grown up now.
Seven years and four studio albums later, Sabrina signed with Universal Music Group’s Island Records. This was the first big step to becoming the icon she is today. Since joining the label, she released thirteen singles, one EP, and two highly popular albums. Island Records understood her vision and allowed her more creative freedom than her previous label, Hollywood Records. Sabrina always had the talent, but sometimes you just need the right people to guide you in your path.
The album she released in July 2022, emails i can’t send, was unlike anything Sabrina had made before. At age 23, the singer was finally gaining the popularity she deserved. A month after the album came out, she announced her tour, which sold out in less than a day.
The track had a few big hits like “Nonsense” and from the deluxe version of emails i can’t send, “Feather.” Sabrina’s voice changed throughout her career, but it became very perceptible in this album. It is much lighter, airy and feminine than previous tracks. In addition, people immediately fell in love with Sabrina’s humor, flirtiness and lyricism shown throughout the album. “Feather” earned Sabrina her first pop radio No. 1.
After a year of touring emails i can’t send, Sabrina got a big thumbs up from the queen of pop herself, Taylor Swift. She opened for Taylor Swift’s legendary Eras Tour 26 times, which gave her immense exposure and success. Opening for Taylor in South America and in countries like Australia and Singapore, helped Sabrina reach a global audience. The two have been seen together multiple times after that, and seem to have a strong friendship.
Sabrina’s last open on the Eras Tour was in March of 2024. A month later,something incredible happened.
“Espresso.”
This was the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The song “Espresso” was released one day before Coachella, and was performed for the very first time on that stage. It was also Sabrina’s first time performing there. The song became Billboard’s No. 1 global song of the Summer for 2024, and making the sunny season more spectacular. Even her music video was filmed on a beach, and got us all ready for the warm weather.
Sabrina’s “Espresso” also uses sensory marketing: when you listen to the word “Espresso”, or hear the song, it may remind you of the feeling you have when drinking a nice cup of coffee. Sensory marketing ties a brand or product with a sense of smell or taste, and in this case, espresso. This is a use of priming which is something that subconsciously happens in our brains.
In July of 2024, Sabrina released “Please Please Please”, which became Billboard’s No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. In August, after “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”, Sabrina’s album Short n’ Sweet came out. The album has done better than all of the others. So much so that Sabrina even considers it her sophomore album, completely discarding her first four albums with Hollywood records. This might be because she had much more creative control creating emails i can’t send and Short n’ Sweet.
Since Short n’ Sweet, she has been on tour, she released a deluxe version that came out on Valentine’s Day 2025, which is so iconic, and won two Grammys awards (It was her first time winning a Grammy). Short n’ Sweet won Best Pop Vocal album and, of course, “Espresso” won Best Pop Solo Performance.
Throughout her journey, it wasn’t just puberty that changed Sabrina Carpenter, so what was it? Branding, my friend, branding. Rebranding actually. She changed almost everything about herself including her makeup, her hair, her clothes and even the way she sings.
Being a popstar is being a brand – and every brand has a visual identity. One strong aspect of a visual identity is color. Have you ever noticed how much Sabrina is correlated to the color blue? Starting off with the background of her coachella performance all the way to her outfit during the grammy performance. The cover of “Espresso” is blue, the cover of Short n’ Sweet is blue and it all leads to marketing.
When you see blue, you think of Sabrina, which is why all of her partnerships and endorsements were also blue. Her Erehwohn smoothie: blue. Prada lipstick: blue. Espresso flavored Van Leeuwen ice cream: blue. With a signature color, it makes it easier to create these kinds of partnerships, and eventually, start your own brand – like Sabrina’s perfume line.
Sabrina has partnered up with many other companies, most of them targeted to young adults. Other than the previously mentioned brands, she also collaborated with Skims, Marc Jacobs and Dunkin’. Visual identity isn’t only about the association with things but also people. For instance, her friendship with Taylor Swift and Jenna Ortega, who made a special appearance in Carpenter’s “Taste” music video. Tying herself with people and brands contributes to Sabrina’s own brand.
The albums emails i can’t send and Short n’ Sweet demonstrated how Sabrina is not a trend follower but a trend setter. In the past Sabrina briefly went along with the Y2k aesthetic mimicking pop stars like Britney Spears and Tate McCrae but quickly realized it wasn’t for her. She has developed her own signature style highly resembling the 1950’s. Sabrina uses nostalgia marketing to invoke positive feelings by looking at familiar ideas and fond memories. The 50’s flair also plays a part in Sabrina’s visual brand.
“Espresso” was a life changing event for Sabrina, but that is only because of all the hard work she put into the moments leading up to it. Throughout her career, Sabrina has successfully managed to break free of the Disney curse, discover her personal style and become a trendsetter for all to follow.
Personally, I loved her even before “Espresso,” but maybe that’s that just me.
