Short N Sweet

Few people are having a better week than Sabrina Carpenter. The singer capped one of the most complete ascents to pop stardom in recent memory with the release of her latest album, Short N Sweet — the culmination of an extended campaign in which she was able to build her career brick by brick, single by single, into the upper echelons of pop music and culture — which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 362,000 equivalent album units, the best week of her career and the third-highest debut week of the year so far.
That type of success doesn’t happen by accident: Carpenter’s team worked all sides for this project, which included radio (two songs, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” are in the top 10 of Billboard‘s Radio Songs Chart), streaming (Short N Sweet also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Streaming Songs chart, with 233 million official on-demand streams) and sales (with nine vinyl variants, she sold 105,000 vinyl records, the second-largest week of the year and good for No. 1 on Billboard‘s Vinyl Albums chart). Four digital album variants, available for a limited time, moved 45,000 units, while five different CD editions added another 33,000 to the total. And all that activity and wide-ranging success helps Island Records’ senior vp/head of commercial strategy Marshall Nolan earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.

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Here, Nolan walks through the strategy that led to Carpenter’s career-best debut. “The plan from the start was that every detail mattered,” Nolan says. “We knew to double down on her strengths, in areas like e-commerce, and once we built a rhythm there, it afforded us the time to nurture elements that still had room for growth.”

This week, Sabrina Carpenter landed her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Short N Sweet. What key decision(s) did you make to make that happen?

Sabrina’s ability to world-build alongside her incredible team of creatives is unparalleled. We challenged ourselves to take that world and embed it into every e-commerce experience, building a range of carefully-curated collectibles for her superfans. 

In many ways, the rollout of this album was very traditional: single built on top of single, radio play and streaming build-up, all leading into the climactic album release. Was that the plan from the start, or did things evolve along the way?

The plan from the start was that every detail mattered. We knew to double down on her strengths, in areas like e-commerce, and once we built a rhythm there, it afforded us the time to nurture elements that still had room for growth.

How did her singles’ success at radio help the digital campaign for the album?

Constant communication with our promo team, who are the best in the business, allowed us to narrate each movement and growth spurt in real-time. We as a team never focused on the successes of an individual single; the intention was always to build Sabrina as an artist and brand first. We welcomed any success that came along with that. 

The album had nine vinyl variants, five CD editions and two cassettes available — what was the physical strategy for the album rollout, and what was behind the success of the vinyl in particular?

The variants are first and foremost a reflection of the incredible creative team surrounding Sabrina, who built products that fans immediately embraced as must-have collectible items. From the packaging finishes to the stylized content with which it was promoted, her passion for each variant came through in every detail. Each product paid special tribute to the many layers of Sabrina’s sharply sweet world.

How much does fan demand play into your commerce plan for any album?

This was another important factor in deciding to offer a wide range of album variants. Sabrina crafted a world we’re lucky to be a part of; we ensured that each album offering felt like an extension of it.

What did you learn from rolling out this release that you can take into other projects in the future?

Everything starts with trust — learning to build it, continuing to maintain it and working to strengthen it every step of the way. We never take for granted the role we are fortunate enough to play in maximizing and achieving an artist’s wildest dreams. Sabrina taught us all to allow time for a slow rise, there is so much to learn and look forward to along the way.