The Rise of Sabrina Carpenter: The Ingredients to Her Success

Written By: Alex LaMotte

Published: December 10, 2024

Popstar Sabrina Carpenter has taken the music industry by storm this year, dominating the streaming charts with her new, record-breaking album “Short n’ Sweet.” Scoring three No. 1 singles from the album with “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” and “Taste,” she has had the most successful year of her career thus far.

Her high level of fame is recent, but Carpenter has been on the scene for over a decade. According to her fans and chart analysts, her breakthrough in fame is attributed to her newfound image and sound: flirty and unforgettable.

“The ability to craft a cohesive aesthetic and look as an artist, and to transform that into an event larger than the music itself really clicked for me.”
— Rhett Kaya, University of Colorado Boulder student

In March 2014, she released her first single, “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying,” from her first EP with the same name under Disney’s Hollywood Records, which was featured in the Disney show she starred in at the time, “Girl Meets World.” She later released her first full-length album, “Eyes Wide Open,” the following year.

The imagery behind her music at the time was geared toward younger audiences, featuring a smoother, acoustic sound and non-explicit lyrics.

She went on to release three more albums, “EVOLution,” “Singular Act I,” and “Singular Act II,” between 2015-2018, all of which were moderately successful but went fairly unnoticed to more casual listeners and those outside Carpenter’s main fanbase. While her songs began to feature more pop-synth sounds, a similar trend can be seen with her image at the time – innocent, modest, filtered – alongside the continuation of her lyricism being catered more to youth.

“In the past, she worked mostly with B-league producers, as she wasn’t confirmed herself. Before 2022, none of her tracks made the Top 20 Pop airplay chart. Her albums had tons of producers, with works that weren’t consistent.”
— Guillaume Vieira, founder of ChartMasters.org

Album Covers Copyright

Eyes Wide Open

EVOLution

Singular Act I

Singular Act II

emails i can’t send

Short n’ Sweet

It was not until the lead-up to her fifth album, “emails i can’t send,” that Carpenter started gaining momentum. In 2021, she was facing backlash from Olivia Rodrigo’s album “SOUR,” which was rumored to be about Carpenter and her relationship with Rodrigo’s ex-boyfriend, Joshua Bassett.

She released the singles “Skin” and “because i liked a boy” in response to the drama, both of which garnered attention internationally. At this point, she ceased working with Hollywood Records and signed with her current label, Island Records. Both “Skin” and “because i liked a boy” found spots on the Billboard Hot 100, with the latter eventually finding a home on Carpenter’s “emails i can’t send.”

This record was the first to see more mature content surrounding its songs and imagery, with Carpenter beginning to use explicit lyrics and explore more intense concepts in her music, including modern breakup culture and sexuality. She was also more involved with the songwriting process, with many of the tracks being written by herself.

Other notable singles from the record include “Nonsense” and “Feather,” both of which became the biggest hits from the album. “Nonsense” became especially notable from the “Emails I Can’t Send Tour,” due to the song’s unique outro that Carpenter would change every show. “Feather,” an uplifting, pop-disco breakup track, became popular on social media platforms including TikTok and Instagram Reels, and was also performed at the 2023 MTV Music Awards. Both tracks have become some of her biggest hits to date.

“emails i can’t send” was where she unleashed more of her personality that we’d seen in her previous albums, both her ‘unserious’ side and her more vulnerable side.”
— “sabrinatourinfo,” Instagram fan page

Carpenter continued this trend from her previous album to release “Espresso,” the flirty lead single to her sixth studio album “Short n’ Sweet.” The song took off in popularity following her debut performance at the Coachella Music Festival in April 2024, and has since become her most successful to date counting over 1 billion streams and becoming Spotify’s most streamed song of the year.

Her following singles, “Please Please Please” and “Taste,” were also received very well by the music community. Released in June 2024, the music video for “Please Please Please” featured her at-the-time boyfriend Barry Keoghan, the renowned actor who starred in the thriller film “Saltburn.” The track quickly topped music streaming charts, bumping her own “Espresso” from the No. 1 spot, a feat only popstar Taylor Swift has accomplished.

“Taste” was released the same day as the rest of the album, alongside a facetious music video starring “Wednesday” actress Jenna Ortega, and joined the other two singles atop the charts.

“I could see Sabrina Carpenter kinda sticking with this current image she has, especially because it’s working out so well for her. Above anything, I just want the music to be good and the style of the music to get better.”
— Rhett Kaya