Today (August 30), Sabrina Carpenter has just delivered an imperious display in both the UK albums and singles charts. With her first chart double – comprising of No.1s for new single Taste and parent album Short N’ Sweet – it is little wonder that Polydor president Ben Mortimer has been left saluting her “juggernaut” performance.
SABRINA’S EPIC CHART DOUBLE IN REVIEW
Before we proceed, a quick recap of some of today’s headlines from Music Week chart analyst Alan Jones and what they mean for Carpenter:
As of today, Sabrina Carpenter has become the first female solo artist in singles chart history to secure all of the top three positions in the singles chart simultaneously (with Taste, Please Please Please and Espresso respectively). Carpenter is only the fourth act in chart history to lock her peers out of the singles top three – emulating Justin Bieber in 2016, Ed Sheeran in 2017 and Harry Styles in 2022. Taste raced to a No.1 debut on consumption of 67,477 units.
We were really aware of Sabrina's ambition, and also what an incredible and fun person she is – now all that graft is paying off
Ben Mortimer, Polydor
This she has achieved while also doing the aforementioned chart ‘double’ for the first time in her career. Her sixth album (but first to actually hit the Top 40), Short ‘N Sweet debuted at No.1, posting the second highest result of the year. Its opening frame of 89,658 sales means it trails only the 270,091 start made by Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department 18 weeks ago. To date, only Carpenter, Sheeran and Styles have achieved the Top 3 singles while also notching up a No.1 album at the same time.
Carpenter has also become the first female ever to have three solo No.1 singles in a calendar year: Ariana Grande had three No.1s in fourteen weeks (Carpenter took 17) with Thank U, Next, 7 Rings and Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored but they spanned two calendar years: 2018 and 2019. A little over nine months elapsed as Madonna moved from two to five No.1s, but these also spanned two calendar years, 1986 and 1987. Jess Glynne also had three No.1s in 2015, but only two of them were solo.
All of this, it should be noted, comes on the back of a year which has seen singles Espresso and Please, Please, Please dominate, with the star even replacing herself at No.1 in the charts.
To the wider world Sabrina Carpenter may feel like an overnight success, but it’s the longest overnight success I’ve ever been a part of
Ben Mortimer, Polydor
POLYDOR’S HOTSTREAK
The results are not only good news for Sabrina Carpenter but also her UK label Polydor. With the Short N’ Sweet result, Polydor is now ahead of Island in terms of weeks at No.1 in the albums chart this year (seven weeks), while EMI is out in front (10 weeks) thanks to the eight non-consecutive weeks at the top for Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.
On top of Carpenter’s singles and albums success, Polydor have won big with No.1 albums and singles from Eminem, Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams and Elbow.
In May, Billie Eilish achieved her third UK No.1 album with a significant increase in week one sales compared to her previous two albums. Hit Me Hard And Soft debuted at the summit with sales of 67,111 units (Official Charts Company) – more than the next six albums combined on this week's chart. Eilish also hit No.1 in the singles chart with her revamped version of Charli XCX’s Guess.
Back in July, meanwhile, and with his first album of new material in more than four years, Eminem made his mark with The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) (TDOSS), which outsold its nearest challenger by a margin of more than four to one to debut at No.1. The 51-year-old hip-hop heavyweight’s 12th studio album racked up first week consumption of 45,063 units. Having enjoyed three weeks at No.1, the record is now on sales of 95,689 to date. That album’s lead single, Houdini, meanwhile, spent two weeks at No.1 and amasseed the highest weekly singles consumption in a year upon release.
Here, Ben Mortimer gives us his take on the rise and rise of Sabrina Carpenter, and Polydor's year so far…
Obviously, Sabrina's had an incredible run of success in the singles charts going into the release of Short N Sweet. Granted all of that, however, were you still surprised by just how massive this opening week has been?
“I’d be lying if I said we knew what a juggernaut this was going to be. Saying that, we could really feel the heat building on Sabrina in 2023. Feather and Nonsense from the last album kept showing incredible sticking power. All metrics on her were rising. And she seemed to be flourishing as an artist. So we identified that, and put together an exciting plan for this campaign. We have been fully locked in with her excellent management team of Janelle Lopez Genzink and Amy Davidson, alongside the Island US team of Justin Eshak, Imran Majid, Jackie Winkler, Steven Rowen and Mike Alexander. It’s been a real partnership. And a lot of fun.”
A lot of artists can have big albums or singles, yet relatively few out there at the moment succeed at being an album and a singles artist at the same time, let alone to the point where they're often replacing themselves at No.1. Why has Sabrina been able to pull that feat off?
“Her personality is really shining through her music. She is so much fun and seems to love being a pop-star. On her last album, Emails I Can’t Send, and even more so on Short N’ Sweet, she has embraced that sense of humour, and you can hear it throughout her songwriting. Fans hear that and want to be a part of her whole universe. Add 11/10 singles into the mix, and you have the recipe for huge success. She’s the first female artist to achieve No.1, 2 and 3 in the singles chart. Only Ed and Harry have achieved that [while also securing a No.1 album at the same time]. It’s a phenomenal achievement for her. But again it’s been a very long haul. This is her sixth album after all. I actually think it’s brilliant for the industry as a whole. True artist development takes time.”
Polydor are leading the way for the most weeks at No.1 in singles, have the most individual No.1 singles, and are neck and neck for the most artists to have individual No.1 albums
Ben Mortimer, Polydor
In terms of building a deep connection between Sabrina and the UK fans, what have Polydor done that you're particularly proud of?
“It’s worth noting we have been working intensely on Sabrina since 2017. She has made multiple trips to the UK, and is so well loved by the Polydor team. We were really aware of her ambition, and also what an incredible and fun person she is. Now all that graft is paying off. This album is going to be around for a very long time. To the wider world it may feel like an overnight success. But it’s the longest overnight success I’ve ever been a part of.”
Between Sabrina, Billie Eilish, Eminem and more, Polydor have had a massive 2024 so far, both on the albums and singles charts. Where is your head at regarding the label's performance so far?
"It has been another great year for us on chart performance. We’re leading the way for the most weeks at No.1 in singles, have the most individual No.1 singles, and are neck and neck for the most artists to have individual No.1 albums. Which, of course, I’m proud of. As I said above, artist development takes more time than ever. And I’m also so proud of the building work we’re doing with our newer artists like Elmiene, Confidence Man and Good Neighbours. All feel fantastic in their own lane. Hopefully it won’t take six albums to really break them, but if it does, it does. We have the confidence and patience to be in for the long haul.”
You can read Alan Jones' singles charts analysis here, and his album analysis here.
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