Halsey announces release date for song reportedly held up by label’s TikTok demands

Halsey has shared a release date for ‘So Good’, their new song that was reportedly delayed due to demands from their record label surrounding TikTok posts.

Last week, Halsey shared a message claiming that their label are holding a new song hostage until they can “fake” a viral TikTok.

Taking to their TikTok page, the singer – who released latest album ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ last year – said in a post titled “I’m tired” that there is new music she wants to release “ASAP,” but that “marketing” is getting in the way and the label won’t let her share the new song.

Taking to Twitter yesterday (May 31), her label Capitol Records then responded, “committing” to a June 9 release date for ‘So Good’ and sharing a message of support for Halsey.

“We love you and are here to support you,” the label wrote to Halsey, adding in an attached statement: “We are an artist first company that encourages open dialogue.

“We have nothing but a desire to help each one of our artists succeed, and hope that we can continue to have these critical conversations.”

Halsey herself then tweeted: “I didn’t expect so much conversation about this record. All I know is that I wanted you guys to hear it and now you can. So Good, song on June 9th and video the next day.”

In a further TikTok video, they played a snippet of ‘So Good’ and added: “After a tremendous amount of f*ck shit, ‘So Good’ is finally coming out. Thanks for keeping up with this fiasco. Hope you love the song.”

In the aftermath of Halsey’s comments, a number of artists have entered the conversation around artists’ use of TikTok and label demands.

They include FKA twigs, who has said: “It’s true all record labels ask for are TikToks and I got told off today for not making enough effort” and since deleted her TikTok account. Charli XCX, Florence Welch and more have also expressed similar sentiments.

Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem, has since penned an essay about the pressure she believes female artists face to provide TikTok content.

Writing in The Guardian, Taylor said: “I think it’s no coincidence that the recent examples of artists who say their labels have forced them to get on TikTok are all women.

“My pub-psychologist theory is that the music industry thinks of social media as an inherently female thing – it’s just another patriarchal idea that women and gay men are interested in the minutiae of other women, while men are just too busy and important to be interested in that stuff.”

Writing on the subject, NME‘s Kyann-Sian Williams said: “Forcing the superstars of today into making would-be viral videos can be a huge deterrent for budding stars wanting to get into the pop world. And if you’re an internet-savvy artist on the rise? You don’t need the huge push of a marketing team to make a viral moment.

“The premise (and slogan) of TikTok is to ‘Make your day’, and seeing a bunch of disingenuous, mediocre content isn’t going to infiltrate someone’s life. Record labels, stop trying to force it – you can’t fake the funk.”