Halsey accuses label of holding music via fake viral TikTok

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If you think a musician’s main job is to release music, then come on grandma, let’s get you to bed. Actually, according to Halsey, labels make TikTok an artist’s main focus. In a now-viral TikTok video shared on May 22, the singer claimed that Capitol Music refuses to release their new music unless the unreleased song reaches an unspecified level of virality. “Basically, I have a song that I love and want to release asap, but my record label won’t let me,” the video’s caption reads of the sound of the seemingly unreleased track. “I’ve been in this industry for eight years and have sold over 165 million records and my record company says I can’t release them unless they can fake a viral moment on Tiktok.”

In a follow-up video posted an hour later, Halsey shares a conversation with an unspecified person discussing the new song’s TikTok strategy. Seemingly anticipating the idea that this was a marketing stunt, Halsey captioned the video, “I wish I’m joking lol.” Responding to fans in the comments section, they clarified that the label wants them to have one achieve a certain benchmark of likes or comments across multiple videos before it is published. “Our belief in Halsey as a unique and important artist is absolute and unwavering,” a spokesman for Capitol Music Group said in a statement to Vulture. “We can’t wait for the world to hear their brilliant new music.” Halsey debuted the unreleased track on May 17 on TikTok. “The tiktok is already viral + I still don’t have a release date,” they say tweeted on 23. They added that the Music video is already done.

“It’s all marketing,” Halsey says in the first video, seemingly criticizing her label. “And they do that to practically every artist these days. I just want to release music, man. And I deserve better, tbh. I am tired.”

Established virality in the app can lead to successful results. Case in point: a Doja Cat x Dolly Parton x Mexican Pizza x Taco Bell jingle. But even while she was “selling her bean curd pizza,” Doja Cat expressed her frustration at how she was asked to use TikTok. “Just knowing,” she whispers a video before her jingle. “It’s contractual.” That includes FKA Twigs, Charli XCX, and Florence + the Machine Criticizing their labels as a relatable way to sell their music to TikTok audiences.

“When the label asks me to do my 8th Tiktok of the week,” Charli XCX, who also doesn’t shy away from the app, captioned a viral Tiktok last October. Even best-selling ballad singer Adele wasn’t immune to pressure from the label. in a (n Interview with Zane Lowe In November, she claimed her label asked her to make videos for the app, to which she replied, “Tika Toka, who?” In March, Florence + the Machine front person Florence Welch wrote in a video’s caption: ” The label is asking me for ‘Low-Fi Tik Token’, so there you go. Please send help.” “It’s true,” the “Cellophane” singer posted on May 18 in a now-deleted TikTok. “All the record labels are asking about TikToks and I’ve been told today that I’m not trying hard enough.” (Vulture has reached out to their reps for comment.) Most of these artists have posted with varying degrees of activity, but Adele has managed to create a public account to avoid.

While Halsey insisted her latest TikToks weren’t just publicity stunts to defend herself against skeptics on Twitter, it has become a meme for musicians to tag their videos with something like “my label made me do it” or “should I release this lol”, with their fans expressing sympathy or excitement in the comments and the videos releasing virally On the way. You have the views, the clicks and the engagement.