In the summer of 2022, Sabrina Carpenter released her Island Records debut album, email I can't send. Last March, she released her deluxe edition with four new tracks – including her breakout single 'Feather', which has since become the pop star's biggest hit to date.
Following a controversial music video for “Feather” that arrived in October, for which Carpenter filmed the risque clip inside a Brooklyn church (with approval, of course), the song has now reached No. 1 Advertising signof the Pop Airplay chart after a 24-week run — and shows no signs of slowing down.
This moment was not only a long time for Carpenter, but also for her manager, Janelle Lopez Genzink. The manager remembers how email I can't send came just a year after launching “female-focused” management company Volara (which operates under the Red Light umbrella), calling it “a very special season.”
“During that year, I was laser-focused on building Volara with a series of strategic hires focused on digital strategies and overall artist branding, while also keeping a close eye on the data and analytics that transformed Sabrina's career” , says. . And now, those years of hard work are paying off – and helped Lopez Genzink win his title Advertising sign's Executive of the Week.
Here, he talks about the success of “Feather,” Carpenter's opening gig on Taylor Swift's Eras tour and more. “Coachella is next,” he teases, “and the rest you'll just have to wait and see.”
“Feather” became the highest-charting song of Sabrina's career, reaching No. 1 on Pop Airplay after a 24-week climb. What key decisions did you make to help make this happen?
The song was written and recorded right before Sabrina started the North American leg of her tour. When rehearsals for the tour began, the live performance of the song made it clear to all of us that this was a record that would quickly resonate with her fans as well as the larger pop music audience. But instead of going straight to radio, we took an approach that was much more reminiscent of a traditional pop singles campaign. He went on tour and shot a meaningful video that eventually gave the song the momentum and recognition to make it to radio. These more traditional steps supported the development of the song and helped us continue to tell Sabrina's story as a holistic artist.
His music video made headlines because it was filmed in a church, which led to the removal of the priest who approved the access. How did that conversation help build interest in the song early on — and how did you help maintain that interest?
Every pop star has a controversial history in their back pocket. Although not intentional, the music video setting clearly led to additional exposure and a pop culture conversation that reminded us of those of some of our favorite pop divas. Sabrina's witty and clever humor in the interviews kept the conversation going and pushed the social story to continue and grow the audience. As we all know now, “Jesus was a carpenter.”
“Feather” was released on the deluxe edition of her album, email i can't send fwd:. How has luxury traffic helped maintain this momentum?
The deluxe edition of the album allowed us to breathe extra life into the campaign. Alongside the release, we strategically lined up a North American tour extension, while embarking on European and Asian dates to keep the album campaign fresh. The thoughtful timing of the deluxe release, combined with the active campaign of the “Nonsense” single, gave us the opportunity to speak with both current and new fans of Sabrina's music.
“Nonsense” was a single from Sabrina's 2022 album email I can't send, which was her first Island release after years with Hollywood Records. How did you help guide this trajectory and transition?
We took a look at every part of Sabrina's business — e-commerce, touring, publishing, publicity. Every area needed development and we worked hard to assess and build partners who could support an A-level career. For Sabrina, that meant aligning with UMPG for publishing, CAA and AEG for touring, Merchandise Traffic for tour merchandise, and Bravado for e-commerce. With these changes, we've seen significant growth across the board, including a 500% increase in sales with specially curated merchandise drops — spearheaded by Sabrina and her sister Sarah — around music releases, holidays and special fandom moments .
The island team — led by Justin Eschak, Imran Majid and Mike Alexander — worked closely with us on its launch e-mail and the album's early success and significant streaming history gave us insight into the level of growth Sabrina was seeing. October 2022 email I can't send The tour marked the beginning of Sabrina's custom city-specific outros for her song “Nonsense,” which garnered millions of views on TikTok, a music video and a top 10 single at US pop radio. This led Sabrina to a sold-out world tour in 2023 that included a Hyde Park festival alongside Blackpink, Lollapalooza and closed the year supporting Taylor Swift on her Eras tour in Latin America.
Even as “Feather” takes off, “Nonsense” continues to headline for these urban outros. Has the fan response influenced which song we will promote this year?
I think “Nonsense” in so many different ways was a song that was completely co-opted by the fans. It is the ninth track from her album and was not marked as a single entering the campaign. Contrasting the lightness of a song like “Nonsense” on an album with a title track that is so deeply emotional and personal made it an obvious standout for fans. Once he started doing outros specifically for the city, the song really took off. And as soon as the Christmas edition came out with a spearhead video shot at home by Sabrina and her sister Sarah, we knew it was going to be huge. I think that's the beauty of a lot of our story with the rise of Sabrina — how the fans played such a huge role in choosing the songs that we end up focusing on. It feels collaborative in many ways.
As you mentioned, Sabrina has also supported Taylor Swift on her Eras tour. What kind of boost has it gained from this exposure?
Being invited as the opening act on the Eras Tour was such a gift in so many ways. Sabrina was a true fan from such a young age and to be able to see that dream come true was incredible as a coach. Being able to tour internationally at this level has allowed Sabrina to play her music to so many people in such a short amount of time and we are so grateful for all the ways it has impacted her music and career.
What's the key to managing a pop star today?
Flexibility, care and strategy. It's about understanding your artist and knowing when to say yes to the right things and when to say no, even when it's hard.
