"On Purpose" is a song recorded by American singer

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. Carpenter made her acting debut with an appearance in the television crime show ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and had a recurring role on Fox Broadcasting ...

from her second studio album ''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' (2016), served as the opening track of the album. The track was written by Carpenter and its producer

Ido Zmishlany Ido Zmishlany is a multi-platinum American record producer and songwriter. Ido has written and produced songs for such artists as Justin Bieber, Khalid, Shawn Mendes, Imagine Dragons, The Chainsmokers, Needtobreathe, Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato, B ...

. The song was released by

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

as the lead single from ''Evolution'' and it was premiered on July 29, 2016. A

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

track, "On Purpose" talks about a relationship that was not supposed to happen. It was accompanied by a music video directed by James Miller premiered on her

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

channel on August 12, 2016. It featured Carpenter walking and touring

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Background and recording

On July 22, 2016, Carpenter revealed on her social media that the song will be released on July 29, sharing two snippets. Earlier that week, she had already teased "big music" coming soon. In addition to producing "On Purpose", Ido Zmishlany engineered the track and do the additional vocal engineering. Nolan Wescott played the piano and do the vocal engineering. Serban Ghenea mixed the track and

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

did the audio mastering at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

in New York. The vocals were recorded at UMPG Studios in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

and the additional vocals were recorded at Faculty Studios.''

'' liner notes D

(2016).

Composition

Musically, "On Purpose" lasts three minutes and fifty-eight seconds. In terms of

music notation Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, "On Purpose" was composed using common time in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

, with a moderately

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 100

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The song follows the chord progression of Gm/B–Dm-C-Gm-Gm/B–Dm-C in the verses, B-C-Dm-Cadd4 in the pre-chorus and Dm-C-F-B in the chorus. Carpenter's vocal range spans from the low note F3 to the high note of D5, giving the song one octaves and five

notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...

of range.

Music video

The music video was directed by James Miller. It was premiered on August 12, 2016. The music video shows her skipping around the streets of

. It was supposed to include her ''

Girl Meets World ''Girl Meets World'' is an American comedy television series created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014. The series ran for three seasons, consisting of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 2 ...

'' co-star

Corey Fogelmanis ''Girl Meets World'' is an American comedy television series created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014. The series ran for three seasons, consisting of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 20, 2 ...

, but his scenes didn't make the final cut.

Critical reception

Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues of ''Andpop'' said "The lead single off of the record hinted at more of an indie sounding Sabrina — matched with the same emotional lyrics and powerful vocals. The sweet and endearing love song is the perfect balance between ballad and up-tempo

track. The lovely lyrics and beat-heavy chorus make for the perfect unique track to set the tone for the record".

Live performances

Carpenter performed the song on the

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016, along with other new music before the release of ''Evolution''.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management *Recorded at UMPG Studios (

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

) *Additional vocals recorded at Faculty Studios *Mastered at

(

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) *Seven Summits Music (BMI) obo Itself and Pink Mic Music (BMI), Songs of Universal, Inc/Music of Liberal Arts Publishing/Zmishlany Music (BMI) Personnel *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– songwriting,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, additional vocal engineering *Nolan Wescott –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, vocal engineering *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixing *

– mastering Credits adapted from ''

'' liner notes.

Charts

Awards and nominations

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Sabrina Carpenter songs Songs written by Ido Zmishlany Hollywood Records singles Songs written by Sabrina Carpenter