Halsey is calling out her record label after they reportedly refused to let her release a new song unless she could create a “viral moment on TikTok.”
The singer ultimately did just that, taking to the social media platform over the weekend to blast their label’s instructions rather than just let them release the song in a normal fashion.
“basically i have a song that i love that i wanna release ASAP,” she wrote in a text overlay, as her music plays in the background. “ive been in this industry for 8 years and ive sold over 165 million records. and my record company is saying that i can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on tiktok.”
“everything is marketing and they are doing this to basically every artist these days,” Halsey concluded. “i just wanna release music man, and i deserve better tbh.”
Many of Halsey’s fans were frustrated on their behalf. TikTok has certainly become a powerful marketing tool, particularly for things aimed at Gen Z, but expecting established, successful artists, to waste time with social media when they could be working on creative ventures or just doing literally anything else can seem silly, if not make them look disingenuous and lose their connection with fans.
But some pointed out that in calling out her label, Astralwerks, Halsey wound up creating a viral moment with the song after all — although she later clarified this isn’t exactly what they meant.
“They wanted SIX?!?” they wrote in reply to a comment about this TikTok going viral.
Halsey also shared another video in which she appears to be speaking to someone from her label and expressing her frustrations with the idea of a staged TikTok for marketing.
“It’s like if it doesn’t get a certain amount of views or likes or w.e. they will just keep making me make videos and push it back until they’re happy,” she wrote.
Astralwerks, meanwhile, has since come out with a statement in response to Halsey's frustrations.
"Our belief in Halsey as a singular and important artist is total and unwavering," they said. "We can’t wait for the world to hear their brilliant new music.”
There is currently no word as to when the song may be released.
