Halsey Joins Columbia Records Following Split From Capitol Records

Halsey’s starting over. In April, the singer departed from Capitol Records after nearly a decade with them, having signed with the label’s Astralwerks imprint in 2013. Their time with Capitol Records included the release of all four of their studio albums, from 2015’s Tumblr-dominating Badlands to 2021’s Nine Inch Nails-produced triumph If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. But the next strides fans will see Halsey take will be backed by her new label home: Columbia Records.

The label announced on Wednesday, June 14, that the singer would join their roster, boasting such acts as Adele, Harry Styles, Beyoncé, Rosalía, the Kid Laroi, Dominic Fike, and more.

Just over a month ago, Halsey returned to their original stomping grounds (read: Tumblr) to update fans on why she’s been so quiet on the music front since the split was first announced. “I know you want new music,” she wrote on her blog tiredandlonelymuse. “I want you to know that I am hard at work. There were some restrictions I was under, for a lot longer than it seemed, but they are no longer in the way. I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.”

Let us fill in the blanks for you. In May 2022, Halsey had something of a public spat with Capitol Records, who the singer stated wouldn’t allow them to release new music that had been ready for over a month unless they manufactured “a viral moment on TikTok.” The song “So Good” was released just over a week after Capitol issued a statement declaring that they “have nothing but a desire to help each one of our artists succeed” and encouraging “open dialogue” among their artists.

In an interview with NME last year, Halsey recalled hearing through word-of-mouth from her younger brother, who works in a lower-level position at Atlantic Records, that industry figures weren’t thrilled about her taking these conversations public. “Dude, why does your sister have to open her big mouth?” people at the label allegedly asked him. She added: “And then the other people who are coming up to him, or coming up to me, being like, ‘You know, I’m really glad this conversation is being had because my artists are fed up with it too.’”

For Halsey, watching younger artists navigate TikTok is reminiscent of her beginnings on Tumblr in the early 2010s, though that was at least driven more by presenting aesthetics in tandem with music than begging an audience to pre-save songs to have a shot at releasing them. “It reminded me quite a bit of kind of how I started on Tumblr, using Tumblr as a way of cultivating a very specific creative brand and then once that brand is established, putting out music,” they explained.

That said, their return to the platform also marks a return to a branding more authentic to them than what they’ve apparently had to adhere to in recent years. “Thank you for having the patience and the faith. It will pay off in the long run. This feels like my debut all over again, in some ways,” they wrote in their blog post. “Your love and support have carried me through a time where I thought maybe I only had a few albums left in me, but I know now that there are so many more than I could have ever dreamed.”