Ive been in this industry for 8 years and Ive sold over 165 million records.
And they are doing this to basically every artist these days.
I just wanna release music, man.
And I deserve better tbh.
The 30-second video did what Halseys label wanted though probably not how they wanted.
Throughout the explanation, Halsey stares despondently into the middle distance before finally saying I hate this.
Like MTV or top 40 hits radio stations before it, TikTok is where popular music lives right now.
An uneasy relationship
Halsey is not the first high profile artist to vent about this on TikTok.
In some cases artists do seem to enjoy being on TikTok.
She even participated in a dance challenge for the song choreographed byanother TikTok creator.
Going viral on TikTok can be a double-edged sword for musical artists.
Her passion was singing, not making videos to post on social media.
Ultimately, she returned to busking on the street.
Is all publicity good publicity?
Halseys self-described TikTok tantrum tests the shock advertising theory that any and all publicity is good publicity for brands.
Star power is aneffective bargaining toolto create change for artists who command it.
The core job of the artist making music remains the same.
Only now the video needs to go viral.
Bondy Valdovinos Kaye, Lecturer,Queensland University of Technology, is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.
