How Should Sabrina Carpenter Feel About the First-Week Performance of ‘Man’s Best Friend’?

Just 11 months aft she past occupied it, Sabrina Carpenter returns to the apical spot of the Billboard 200 this week with her caller album, the Aug. 29-released Man’s Best Friend.

The caller set, her follow-up to 2024’s four-week Billboard 200 No. 1 Short n’ Sweet, claims rod presumption with an awesome 366,000 units moved, according to Luminate — a somewhat higher fig than its predecessor bowed with (362,000). In addition, it notches each 12 of its tracks successful the apical 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, with 2 — the No. 3-entering “Tears,” and the No. 4-rebounding “Manchild” (which antecedently debuted astatine No. 1) — making the apical five.

How should Carpenter consciousness astir her first-week performance? And what would helium counsel her to bash for the remainder of the year? Billboard staffers reply these questions and much below.

1. Sabrina Carpenter debuts atop the Billboard 200 this week with Man’s Best Friend, posting 366,000 first-week units — up a tiny spot from the first-week show of past year’s Billboard 200-besting Short n’ Sweet (362,000 units). On a standard from 1-10, however excited should Carpenter and her squad beryllium with that performance?

Eric Renner Brown: 7. Man’s Best Friend‘s first-week figures didn’t stroke Short n’ Sweet‘s retired of the h2o – astir apt a tiny disappointment for Carpenter and her team, fixed however inescapable she has been for the past twelvemonth – but they did support her 2024 effort’s success, and without being buoyed by 2 monolithic pre-release hits similar Short n’ Sweet was. The stat I’d beryllium astir excited astir were I successful Carpenter’s camp: Man’s Best Friend clocked the ninth-best vinyl income week successful the modern epoch (dating backmost to 1991); lone 1 of the albums up of her connected that tally is by an creator not named Taylor Swift. That accomplishment demonstrates her instrumentality base’s passionateness – and her team’s merchandise strategy savvy.

Lyndsey Havens: 10. Sabrina’s trajectory close present is what I ideate each popular prima dreams of — whenever it happens. To punctuation the Hot 100’s current champion, Sabrina keeps going up “up, up, up” and it’s a joyousness to ticker arsenic a longtime fan. Especially due to the fact that it seems that she’s having the astir amusive of america all. And I deliberation it’s successful portion due to the fact that she has mastered striking portion the robust is hot; she figured retired what works and feels champion for her and her assemblage and has consistently delivered precisely that ever since. And makes it look easy.

Jason Lipshutz: An 8. Sure, it would person been bully to rival the biggest debuts of the twelvemonth truthful acold by The Weeknd and Morgan Wallen, but Man’s Best Friend squeaking by the bow of Short n’ Sweet, erstwhile its predecessor had a much plentiful postulation of hits upon its release, is beyond impressive. Sabrina Carpenter has reached a level successful which each caller medium is simply a popular event, but returning truthful rapidly aft a blockbuster medium and scoring an adjacent bigger debut demonstrates conscionable however firmly she’s planted herself connected the A-list.

Joe Lynch: Nine. Both the wide full and trad medium income numbers for MBF are up from SNS, which is, connected look value, A Good Thing. I particularly deliberation it’s a triumph considering SNS benefitted from the juggernaut that was “Espresso,” 1 of the astir ubiquitous, undying hits of the 2020s. For MBF to bash adjacent marginally amended without a comparable era-defining opus boosting the streams is simply a large win.

Andrew Unterberger: An 8.5. Given the abbreviated layover and comparative deficiency of beforehand hits compared to its predecessor, I deliberation thing wrong scope of Short n’ Sweet w...