Mission accomplished for Sabrina Carpenter. Huge pop stars don't do anything without a lot of pre-planning involved. If Taylor Swift knows something is going to happen in the future, such as an album release, you can bet there is going to be a scheme to make the release reach the most people.
Can you blame her? Why would anyone? She has made music (and then the selling that music) her way of earning a living. She might approach her career differently than, say, Neil Young, but both artists need to make money to keep making music that can be heard by millions.
When Carpenter helped come up with the artwork for her recently released album, Man's Best Friend, she definitely knew what kind of reaction it might receive. On the cover, she is on her knees in front of a man who is holding her by the hair.
Sabrina Carpenter makes sure she isn't bothered by the backlash to her new album
Does it come across as anti-feminist? Some might see it that way. The point, however, was probably to draw attention to Carpenter and create something people would remember. She did that.
And she certainly isn't going to apologize after the fact. Sure, prior to the album's release on August 29, she delivered an alternative cover that was "approved by God," but it was never going to replace the original. Sabrina Carpenter is not going to give in to the backlash.
She recently clapped back at the haters on CBS Mornings, saying, "Y’all need to get out more, I think. Between me and my friends and my family and the people that I always share my music and my art with first, it just wasn’t even a conversation… It was just, like, it’s perfect for what the album is, and what it represents."
For every mention on social media from someone who doesn't like what Carpenter did with her album cover, the musical artist wins. Someone is bound to ask, "What is all the fuss about the artwork?" Then they might go take a look, and then maybe they will listen to what the songs are trying to say.
Maybe Sabrina Carpenter even makes a few new fans instead of losing them from what she did on the front of Man's Best Friend. That was the whole point of making the artwork what it was in the first place.