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Musicians Are Sick And Tired Of Their Labels Allegedly Gatekeeping Their Releases Unless They "Go Viral" On TikTok

"I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won't let me."

Syd Robinson
by Syd Robinson

BuzzFeed Staff

Recently, Halsey made a TikTok that shed light on a conversation that lots of other musicians have been talking about for a while now: TikTok basically runs their lives — and careers.

Vivien Killilea / Getty Images for REVOLVE

Lots of other artists are now stepping forward — if they haven't already — and addressing just how much pressure their labels are putting on them to create #content.

allure @alluregaga2

what tiktok has done to the music industry is upsetting like…

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Twitter / Twitter: @alluregaga2

Here are some of the musicians who have made TikToks about their labels:

1. Halsey

TikTok / tiktok.com @halsey

"Basically, I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won't let me," the singer captioned the video. As their unreleased song played in the background, they continued: "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 it unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok."

To sum it all up, she said: "Everything is marketing. And they do this to basically every artist these days. I just wanna release music, man. And I deserve better tbh. I'm tired."

Watch Halsey's full TikTok here:

2. Florence Welch

TikTok / tiktok.com @florence

Florence Welch — of Florence + The Machine fame, of course — captioned her TikTok "The label are begging me for 'low fi tik toks' so here you go. pls send help ☠️ X" before starting her video with a mournful sigh.

Watch Florence's full TikTok here:

@florence

The label are begging me for ‘low fi tik toks’ so here you go. pls send help ☠️ x

♬ original sound - Florence

3. Ed Sheeran

TikTok / tiktok.com @edsheeran, TikTok / tiktok.com

Ed clearly doesn't give a crapola about TikTok, and honestly, that's become his #brand.

Watch Ed's full TikToks here:

@edsheeran

Tag someone that likes snacks

♬ 2step (feat. Lil Baby) - Ed Sheeran

And here:

@edsheeran

Someone take this app away from me

♬ 2step - Ed Sheeran

Although Ed did really give us a lil' treat with this one specifically:

@edsheeran

Join TikTok they said, go viral they said

♬ original sound - Ed Sheeran

4. Betty Who

TikTok / tiktok.com @bettywhomusic

Recently, on the podcast Las Culturistas, Betty Who — who's an independent artist — shared her gripes with the music industry. "There's not a single record label in this town that will sign me. They all turned me down," she said. "This is where it's shifting, is [labels] go, 'We wanna sign people with a viral hit on TikTok only.'"

"I'm not going to wake up and all of a sudden be really good at TikTok," she said. "So me, being an old person on an app trying to force it, will not make it any better."

5. Maggie Rogers

TikTok / tiktok.com @maggierogers

Maggie Rogers got a good buzz goin' and lamented her label's demands in the bathroom of a New York City bar. She's also been promoting her new album on her TikTok, which she's obviously being forced to do!

Watch Maggie's full TikTok here:

6. Gavin DeGraw

TikTok / tiktok.com @gavindegraw

The singer-songwriter made his mandatory TikTok debut by parodying his hit "I Don't Wanna Be" and changing the lyrics to express his ✨disdain✨ for the platform.

Watch Gavin's full TikTok here:

7. FKA twigs

A screenshot from a video that says "It's true, all record labels ask for are TikToks and I got told off for not making enough effort"
TikTok / tiktok.com @fkatwigs

FKA twigs has since deleted this TikTok, but you get the idea.

8. VÉRITÉ

VÉRITÉ @Verite

having to fake viral moments to release art is an entire new level of soul sucking. the music industry is trash, labels are worse than trash ✨✨✨ https://t.co/rG6iyqmm2G

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Twitter / Twitter: @Verite

The singer recently tweeted, "Having to fake viral moments to release art is an entire new level of soul sucking. the music industry is trash, labels are worse than trash."

9. Omar Apollo

TikTok / tiktok.com @omar.apollo

Apparently, Omar Apollo's label makes him make two TikToks a DAY!!!

Watch Omar's full TikTok here:

10. Charli XCX

A screenshot of a depressed-looking Charli saying "When the label asks me to make my eighth TikTok of the week"
TikTok / tiktok.com @charliexcx

Charli paired this sweet visual with the audio clip, "Well, I didn't really wanna be here, so I was made to be here, so obviously I'm just, like, wanting to get this over with and get on with my life. It's a big inconvenience for me."

Watch Charli's full TikTok here:

Oh, but since she posted that TikTok, Charli has gone on to tweet that it was just a joke...so where does this leave us.......?!??!?!?!!

Charli @charli_xcx

not me - i was just lying for fun https://t.co/Gucd7NgFbc

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Twitter / Twitter: @charli_xcx

In the same vein as Charli's joke TikTok, the Queen of 2010s Tumblr, Sky Ferreira, has speculated that they're all just publicity stunts.

Arturo Holmes / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

She posted this meme on her Insta story that claims some artists are faking these "my label is forcing me to make these" TikToks for "outrage clicks."

Instagram / @skyferreira

People have also commented similar things on Halsey's TikTok, but they were quick to dispute the claim.

Halsey saying she wishes her videos were viral marketing campaigns and that the label forced her to post without telling her what to post about
TikTok / tiktok.com

To this comment saying this TikTok was planned, Halsey was quick to comment back: "Bruh I wish it was haha. They just said I have to post tiktoks they didn't specifically say 'about what' so here I am."

And their label had asked for SIX(!!!!!!!) TikToks, allegedly.

TikTok / tiktok.com

While I love TikTok just as much as the next Gen Z/millennial cusp, I've gotta say, I don't think musicians should be forced to make all these TikToks if they just wanna make music. Unless they want to, obvi!

NBC / giphy.com

And I'm not sure whether or not I think these "fuck labels" TikToks are actually just a marketing ploy from the labels themselves. What do YOU think?!

Paramount Network / giphy.com

But that's just my opinion. What do you think about all of this? Let me know in the comments!

NBC / Peacock / giphy.com