The Beauty of a Brand: How Popstars Are Made

Olivia Rodrigo. Sabrina Carpenter. Taylor Swift.

These names carry more than hit songs. Each artist represents a distinct brand. The modern pop star is no longer defined by music alone. While songs still matter, something more powerful exists behind the talent. This piece explores how pop stars are made, how artists who were once relatively unknown break into the mainstream, and how a strategic rebrand can change the entire course of a career.

Olivia Rodrigo's Success

This article focuses on two defining pop stars of 2024 and 2025. Olivia Rodrigo is one example of an artist whose success stems not only from strong music, but from an even stronger brand. In 2021, Rodrigo released “drivers license,” a song built on heartbreak and teenage angst that quickly became her breakout hit.

The track earned a Grammy Award for best pop solo performance, broke Spotify streaming records, achieved the most global streams in a single day for a nonholiday song, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, and received 6x Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Despite its success, the song also carried the risk of labeling Rodrigo a one-hit wonder.

When the song gained popularity, Rodrigo was already a familiar face. She rose to fame on Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark and later starred in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a spinoff of the original High School Musical film trilogy. While she was established as an actress, she was not yet recognized as a music artist.

At the time of “drivers license,” Rodrigo had a limited discography beyond Disney-related songs and her track “All I Want” from the series: a song that I had listened to so much. It displayed Rodrigo’s unique and beautiful raw vocals and even back then, as a big fan of Disney Channel, knew she had something special.

The song also had cultural relevance. A rumor about a line in her song, alluded to an alleged feud with Sabrina Carpenter, as they shared an ex, Joshua Basset, which Olivia Rodrigo was in a rumored relationship and co-stared with on Disney Channel. The lyric "And you're probably with that blonde girl, who always mad me doubt. She’s so much older than me, she’s everything I’m insecure about." This caused heavy speculation and talks around social media, making fans even more invested in her music to see what she would say next.

Take the Quiz: What’s Your Secret Superpower? This Quiz Will Reveal Which Singer Icon You Resemble

This fun quiz will unveil your unique qualities and reveal which music icon you resemble the most.

Olivia Rodrigo's Branding

This was the first step in Olivia Rodrigo’s music career. She had a hit, but she needed something to stay relevant, or else she would have been a one or two hit wonder. Olivia Rodrigo’s team knew this, and immediately they begun to do the one thing that makes a popstar. Give her a brand.

Branding for pop stars is the identity they sell alongside their music. It is the image, story, and feeling an artist creates so audiences instantly recognize who they are and what they represent, even before hearing a song. It’s what the fans will dress like at the concerts, it’s the icons and aesthetics that fans will immediately recognize the artist.

Fortunately for Rodrigo she already had two of the three things that I think makes a popstar: cultural relevance, a hit song, a distinct brand. Olivia Rodrigo had a drama that kept her fans waiting on music either as a ‘response’ and waiting to hear her voice.

The brand stemmed from her hit song "drivers license" which was about teenage angsts and later became the selling point of Olivia Rodrigo’s first album SOUR. Rodrigo leaned into the grunge pop of the industry which many pop stars that were popular weren’t doing.

She leaned into a specific color, purple, and had the ‘OR’ logo, her initials, which fit with the title SOUR. She released merchandise, very iconic clothing, and easy to dress up outfits in her music videos and ultimately made the brand the face of teenage emotion and angst.

The Rise of Sabrina Carpenter

Another example of rebranding would be Sabrina Carpenter. Like Rodrigo, newcoming artist like Sabrina Carpenter who had similar beginnings on Disney Channel also became popular through ‘rebranding.’

Before becoming mainstream, Carpenter already had many albums in her discography. In her early Disney-era days, she was signed to Hollywood Records, whom she shared, that she did not have a lot of creative direction. She was making music for fans who had followed her on Disney Channel and did not get a large audience. She had seldom small hits like ‘Sue Me’ and ‘Looking at Me’ from her older albums but never anything groundbreaking until she moved to Island Records in 2021.

Carpenter released the song ‘Skin’ which fans knew was in response to Olivia Rodrigo’s alleged feud. The line "There's no gravity in the words we write,/ Maybe you didn't mean it,/ Maybe blonde was the only rhyme." This song was her first ‘hit’ but would be modest to the other songs she’d later release.

Sabrina Carpenter's Brand

Carpenter released Emails I Can’t Send in 2021, which had one of her first hits ‘Nonsense’ which had hints of what would later become the fuel of her future brand. The vibe and lyrics of the song consisted of the high soprano voice she sings in regularly along with cheeky lyrics that are hidden behind her innocent look.

The brand was appealing to her fans, and with this brand growing, she redirected it to have the old Hollywood look, or the barbie doll look that would eventually make her a global popstar. Her next album Short & Sweet was the first album she released under her new brand.

Conclusion

Now that we’ve discussed artist that I think followed the brand, l wants to mention some other artist that I think need a more profound and staple brand. Upcoming artist, Addison Rae, previously a popular TikTok star in 2020, turned to a music career. Her hit song ‘Diet Pepsi’ dropped in 2024, which consisted of high pitched and whisper tones and hinted at a sensual tone.

Although she has her distinct sound, I don’t think she really has a brand yet. When she gets that brand down, I think that will be another example of what branding can do for you as an artist.

Artist like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo are a direct demonstration of what a change in brand can do for you as an artist. Next time you listen to these artists, remember the power of branding and artistry, and what it can do to make your next favorite artist.