Halsey Claims Their Music Label Is Holding New Music Hostage In Exchange For A Viral TikTok Moment
There used to be a time when a person might define music industry success by asking, “Quick – name three of their most famous songs” (Somewhere Rita Ora’s eyes are darting back and forth nervously). But if Halsey is telling the truth, then current-day music industry success might only be quantified after someone can name an artist’s last three viral moments on TikTok. Halsey has claimed that her record label is currently playing hardball with their new music, and it’s allegedly all over some TikTok metrics.
Yesterday, Halsey did what their record label allegedly wants them to do, which is to say Halsey filmed a TikTok and uploaded it for their 4.5 million TikTok followers. And that TikTok went a little viral, except for the exact opposite reason Halsey’s record label would likely like a TikTok video to go viral. Because Halsey might have exposed the marketing department of Astralwerks/Capitol in an embarrassing way when Halsey heavily implied that she’s not really doing TikToks for the fun and excitement of it. Now, 7.8 million TikTok users have seen the video, where Halsey claims they’re “tired,” because they have a new song they want to release, but can’t, unless they’re able to “fake a viral moment on TikTok.” Because according to Halsey, “everything is marketing.”
@halsey I’m tired
That video was accompanied by a follow-up video, where Halsey says, “I wish I was kidding lol.” So, Halsey really isn’t kidding when they claim that Astralwerks/Capitol has Halsey on the Doja Cat platinum viral content generation plan.
Variety reached out to Halsey’s label Astralwerks/Capitol for comment, and they didn’t say much.
“Our belief in Halsey as a singular and important artist is total and unwavering. We can’t wait for the world to hear their brilliant new music.”
This isn’t the first time Halsey has called out their record label, which they’ve been with since 2014. Last year, Halsey explained during an interview with Apple Music that she had to call up the head of her label and inform them of her pregnancy and assure the label that “my personal choice isn’t going to affect your profitability.” And back in 2019, Halsey called out the Grammy Awards, saying that the fan-voted American Music Awards were the only awards show worth a damn, because the fans are the only ones who truly care about the music.
Not to mention that Halsey isn’t even the only person to straight-up accuse their record label of pandering to the TikTok algorithm. Alongside Halsey on Team WHY The Fuck Are They Making Us Do This, is FKA Twigs, Charli XCX, and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, who have all claimed that they have been reprimanded by their respective record labels for not pumping out enough viral TikTok moments.
what tiktok has done to the music industry is upsetting like… pic.twitter.com/bSJ0EIVfv1
— allure (@alluregaga2) May 22, 2022
The worst part of this isn’t that a bunch of artists are allegedly being held captive by their record labels, being forced to produce meme-worthy TikTok content for likes and clicks. It’s that the record labels clearly don’t know how viral TikTok moments are made. You can’t just throw Olivia Rodrigo in front of an iPhone camera and get 10 million easy likes because she lip-synced to a sound clip from A Walk to Remember in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary. You get 10 million likes because you’re an E-girl who casually joked about your severe social anxiety downward spiral while busting out a dance to the theme from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, or because you’re a cat.
Pic: Instagram