Lovato "connected" to. "It connected specifically for her, because there's a lot of things in her past that people are looking for her to be apologetic for," he added. Stefan Johnson of production team The Monsters and the Strangerz revealed to Variety that Lovato was conflicted between a track called "The Middle" and "Sorry Not Sorry" as the lead single, in May. Lovato opted the latter, as she called the former "too pop" and Lovato was trying to go "more soulful". The track was eventually recorded by Russian-German record producer Zedd with American electronic music duo Grey with American country music singer Maren Morris. Lovato told Noisey that she had always wanted "Sorry Not Sorry" to be the lead single of Tell Me You Love Me but her inner circle felt the title track was a better choice "because it's emotional—it's vulnerable". Lovato then played both songs to the founder of Roc Nation, which her management Philymack was partnered with, Jay-Z. "And he said 'Sorry Not Sorry' because it was lighthearted. He was like, 'A lot of people see you do the emotional thing all the time, but they don't see you have fun!' And I was like, 'That's such a good point.' And [his opinion] kind of persuaded other people, too." Release On June 29, 2017, Lovato published a trio of pictures on her Instagram and Twitter accounts showing an acronym titled "SNS" causing speculation related to a possible new single. Five days after, the singer confirmed the release of a song via an Instagram video, and teased the instrumental of the track. The following day, Lovato posted a video on her Twitter revealing the title "Sorry Not Sorry". Lovato explained to Amazon Music that "Sorry Not Sorry" is a song for the "haters" with the message "You know what? I'm good now, and sorry I'm not sorry that you may not be loving where your life is at the moment." Composition "Sorry Not Sorry" is written in the key of B minor with a tempo of 144 beats per minute in common time. Lovato's vocal range on the song spans from the low note of A3 to the high note of A5. It runs for three minutes and twenty-three seconds. Critical reception Forbes contributor Hugh McIntyre described "Sorry Not Sorry" as "an unapologetic, braggadocious look in the mirror, with Lovato taking the opportunity to praise herself, and rightfully