Alt-pop singer Halsey has never been known to shy away from speaking their mind, and this weekend they took to Twitter and TikTok to voice their frustrations with their record label, Capitol Records.
Halsey claimed that they're being blocked from releasing a new song due to their label's desire to market the song through a viral moment on TikTok.
"Basically, I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won't let me," Halsey wrote in a 29-second video.
"Everything is marketing, and they are doing this to every artist these days. I just want to release music, man and I deserve better tbh. I'm tired," the singer continued.
While some fans criticized Halsey on Twitter for speaking out about their frustrations with the marketing tactic — some even stating that Halsey was creating a fake feud with their label as a marketing ploy in itself — Halsey was quick to shut that down.
"It's not about making the TikToks I already make TikToks! They are saying if they don't reach some imaginary goalpost of views or virality then they won't give me a release date at all," they explained in a tweet on Monday (May 23).
Halsey is not the first artist to speak up about fake viral moments on TikTok. Among similar complaints from artists such as Charli XCX, FKA twigs and more, last month, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine posted a video on the platform singing an unreleased track, and captioned the video: "The label are begging me for 'low fi TikToks' so here you go. [Please] send help."
While Halsey's track remains unreleased, they have hinted that they may perform the song live on their current tour, whether or not their label gives the green light.
Halsey claimed that they're being blocked from releasing a new song due to their label's desire to market the song through a viral moment on TikTok.
"Basically, I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won't let me," Halsey wrote in a 29-second video.
"Everything is marketing, and they are doing this to every artist these days. I just want to release music, man and I deserve better tbh. I'm tired," the singer continued.
While some fans criticized Halsey on Twitter for speaking out about their frustrations with the marketing tactic — some even stating that Halsey was creating a fake feud with their label as a marketing ploy in itself — Halsey was quick to shut that down.
"It's not about making the TikToks I already make TikToks! They are saying if they don't reach some imaginary goalpost of views or virality then they won't give me a release date at all," they explained in a tweet on Monday (May 23).
Halsey is not the first artist to speak up about fake viral moments on TikTok. Among similar complaints from artists such as Charli XCX, FKA twigs and more, last month, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine posted a video on the platform singing an unreleased track, and captioned the video: "The label are begging me for 'low fi TikToks' so here you go. [Please] send help."
While Halsey's track remains unreleased, they have hinted that they may perform the song live on their current tour, whether or not their label gives the green light.
Halsey kicked off the tour to accompany their 2021 album If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power last week, and will be making a stop in Toronto in June.
