During an interview, Ariana confirmed that she hated the song and the video itself, calling it a "terrible first impression". She also revealed that the genre incorporated in the song wasn't the type of music she listens to.
In several interviews during 2013, Ariana admitted to having completely disliked "Put Your Hearts Up" and not having an interest in pursuing music of that genre. She expressed a desire to make the type of music she grew up listening to, which was, "urban pop, 90s music."
In an interview in the Rolling Stone she confessed about "Put Your Hearts Up": "It was geared toward kids and felt so inauthentic and fake. That was the worst moment of my life. For the video, they gave me a bad spray tan and put me in a princess dress and had me frolic around the street. The whole thing was straight out of hell. I still have nightmares about it, and I made them hide it on my Vevo page."
