Post Malone Refuses to Make ‘Viral’ Music as He Distances Himself From Social Media
Post Malone recently released his fourth album, Twelve Carat Toothache, and in it, the music artist continues to experiment with sounds and genres. But one thing Post Malone isn’t doing is trying to go viral on TikTok. He recently joined the conversation other artists started about the pressures they face from their music labels to make songs that could become viral trends. Instead of catering to TikTok, Post Malone is doing the opposite and distancing himself from social media.
Not every musician loves how TikTok has changed the industry
While TikTok has done wonders for the careers of many artists, there’s a lot of skepticism regarding the impacts of TikTok on music. Many complaints focus on the growing pressures on artists to produce music that will go viral on the short-form video-sharing platform.
The most famous dissenting voice against the push for TikTok has been Halsey. According to Rolling Stone, Halsey went viral for a video in which the artist stated they could not release new music because their label wanted it to first be viral on TikTok.
Sometimes, TikTok can be both a career booster and a curse for a musician. Trevor Daniel found tremendous success on TikTok with his song “Falling” in 2020, but now he claims TikTok is holding him back. Daniel says he hasn’t been allowed to release any new music because none of his latest songs have become TikTok trends.
Post Malone has experienced the pressure of TikTok
The pressures of artists on TikTok bring us back to Post Malone, who recently spoke about the subject concerning his music.
Like Halsey, Post Malone is a hitmaker who has been a household name for years. Rolling Stone reports that in response to the recent TikTok controversies, Post Malone indicated that being natural on the social media platform is difficult for him. He didn’t expressly state he had faced pressures similar to artists like Halsey or Trevor Daniel.
Instead of adapting to the TikTok age of music, Post Malone has worked to distance himself from social media. He found that he was uncomfortable on social media, and he has stated that using it less frequently has been good for him.
It’s yet unknown whether any songs from Post Malone’s new album, Twelve Carat Toothache, will become successful on TikTok. Regardless, it doesn’t seem to be Post Malone’s priority.
Unknown songs have become chart-toppers because of TikTok
Especially in recent months, TikTok has been controversial among musicians and fans alike. But that’s not to say the popular social media platform has been bad for every musician, and some have made a name for themselves because of TikTok.
One example of an artist who benefited from the short-form video-sharing platform is StaySolidRocky, whose song “Party Girl” climbed the Billboard charts after becoming viral through other users’ TikTok posts. Acclaim states that StaySolidRocky released the song before it became big on TikTok, but it had found little success.
24kGoldn earned a major record deal thanks to the TikTok success of his single “Valentino.” Social media stars like David Dobrik used the song in the background of their TikTok videos, and 24kGoldn used the momentum to grow his music career.
TikTok has also helped established artists boost their success. Doja Cat was already a star when she released her 2019 single “Say So,” but thanks in part to a viral TikTok dance, the song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
As for TikTok’s effects on the music landscape, criticisms from artists like Halsey and successes from artists like StaySolidRocky highlight the pros and cons of the platform.
