Halsey says label “won’t let” them release song until fake viral TikTok moment
Instagram: iamhalseySinger Halsey has called out their record label after they reportedly told them that they “won’t let” them release their new song until they fake a viral TikTok moment.
Halsey is a hugely popular singer known for albums like ‘Badlands’ and ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,’ and like many other celebrities, they also have a significant following on TikTok, with 4.5 million followers.
In a TikTok posted on May 22, Halsey posted a video to her account, in which she explained via captions: “Basically, I have a song that I love that I wanna release ASAP, but my record label won’t let me. I’ve been in this industry for 8 years, and I’ve 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. I just wanna release music man. And I deserve better tbh. I’m tired.”
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The video immediately caught fans’ attention, with over a million likes at the time of writing, though one comment with nearly 50,000 likes suggested: “This is the viral marketing video…”
Halsey responded shortly after, saying: “Bruh I wish it was haha. They just said I have to post TikTok they didn’t specifically say “about what” so here I am.”
Over on Twitter, the star continued to update fans on the situation, and said that despite their label having a positive reaction to the virality of her video, they still didn’t confirm that they’d be able to release it yet.
Talked to my label tonight after my tiktok tantrum. They said “wow the tiktok is going really strong!” I was like ok cool so can I release my song now? They said “we’ll see!” 🙃 tell me again how I’m making this up.
— h (@halsey) May 23, 2022
Additionally, in response to commenters claiming that they’re using this as a marketing tactic, they said: “I’ve been minding my own business on tour taking care of my baby. Four albums deep. Coasting. I’m way too established to stir something like this up for no reason or resort to this as a marketing tactic but now I’m in too deep so there’s no going back.”
I’ve been minding my own business on tour taking care of my baby. Four albums deep. Coasting. I’m way too established to stir something like this up for no reason or resort to this as a marketing tactic but now I’m in too deep so there’s no going back 🤷🏻♀️
— h (@halsey) May 23, 2022
It’s common for new hits to blow up on TikTok, and Lizzo’s song ‘About Damn Time’ is the current trend to take over the short-form video app.
