Halsey claims her record label won’t “let” her release a new song until she goes viral on TikTok.
The 27-year-old singer is keen to bring out the track as soon as possible but has accused Astralwerks/Capitol Records of putting the breaks on her plans because, despite her huge record sales, they want to wait and capitalise on the publicity of a major online moment.
She captioned a video shared to TikTok, in which she frowned while seemingly the new song played in the background: “Basically, I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won’t let me.
“I’ve been in this industry for eight years and I’ve sold over 165 million records and my record company is saying I can’t release [the song] unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok.”
The ‘Without Me’ hitmaker – who uses both feminine and neutral pronouns – insisted their situation isn’t uncommon in the music industry.
The caption continued: “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.”
Halsey – who has 10-month-old son Ender with partner Alev Aydin – previously took a swipe at the executives in charge of her career when she recalled revealing her pregnancy.
Speaking shortly after she’d given birth, they said: “You have to call the CEO of X, Y, Z and say, ‘Hey, hi. I’m just calling to let you know, I’m pregnant. I didn’t want you to find out on Instagram. I wanted to tell you myself, personally. It’s still business as usual over here though, don’t worry.
“My personal choice isn’t going to affect your profitability or your productivity or your assembly line. And also, in what world would you ever have to call me to tell me that you were having a baby? But I have to call you because it impacts your product.’”
