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Columbia Blocks Halsey's Next Album

Plus: Zayn's residency, Taylor Swift's trespasser and Florence + the Machine new single.

September 26, 2025

👋 Most artists quietly accept label restrictions behind closed doors. Halsey just broke the biggest industry rule of all by publicly calling out Columbia for blocking her next album.

Read time: 3 minutes | 619 words

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FEATURE

🎱 Columbia Blocks Halsey's Next Album

Most artists face pressure to repeat their biggest successes, but few discuss it this openly. Halsey said "I can't make an album right now" and revealed that Columbia Records has essentially put her on pause because "The Great Impersonator didn't perform the way they thought it was going to."

The commercial reality:

  • 100,000 first-week sales for an experimental concept album with no radio support

  • Highest-grossing tour of her career despite the album's reception

  • Top 10 among female artists' first weeks but still considered underperformance

What makes this revealing: The numbers Halsey describes would represent success for most artists, but she's being measured against her own Manic-era peaks when she was competing with Ariana Grande for chart dominance. She's essentially trapped between categories - too successful to be judged alongside indie artists, not commercial enough for pop star metrics.

The catch-22: Columbia wants blockbuster numbers but provides minimal promotional investment, then acts surprised when an experimental concept album about mortality doesn't match mainstream pop performance. Halsey basically made the artistic choice to evolve, but the industry won't let her succeed in her new category.

The bigger picture: This creates an impossible situation where past success becomes a creative prison. Artists either repeat themselves forever or watch their "failure" to match previous peaks become justification for reduced support.

Bottom line: Halsey's situation shows how selling 100,000 albums can simultaneously be impressive and career-limiting depending on your previous achievements. The industry treats artistic growth as commercial regression. ★

SONG OF THE WEEK

📀 “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND” by RAYE | ⭐ 4.6/5

"WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!" transforms RAYE's search for love into her most assertive brass-fueled anthem to date.

  • Premiered live at Glastonbury 2025 before the studio version, opening her acclaimed festival set this summer

  • Co-written and produced with Mike Sabath continuing their partnership from "My 21st Century Blues" era

  • Lead single from upcoming sophomore album after her original songs were stolen when her car was taken

  • Launches her 40-date "THIS TOUR MAY CONTAIN NEW MUSIC" tour with sisters ABSOLUTELY and AMMA as support acts

This anthem proves RAYE has mastered the art of making loneliness sound like pure celebration.

Review of WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! by jennieitgirl - Musicboard

Review of WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! by RAYE. anoca rated the single 5.0 / 5 stars. “Where Is My Husband!” is one of the funniest, most chaotic, and at the same time most brilliant songs I’ve ever heard from RAYE. Right from the start, she delivers a theatrical vocal, almost as if she were acting in a play or a cabaret, and that’s what gives the track its whole charm. It’s a song t...

musicboard.app/jennieitgirl/review/album/where-is-my-husband/raye

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