Randy Houser Has Real Strong Feelings About TikTok
A funny thing happened when someone tried to get Randy Houser to do a few TikTok videos. He shut the door and walked away.
Ironically, video from this moment appears on Houser's official TikTok channel, but the "Note to Self" singer has taken a hard stance against actively participating in some of the viral trends other stars have embraced. Anything you see is done on his terms, and it's usually to promote a song in more traditional ways.
"I understand that's the way of the future and all that," he tells Taste of Country Nights, "but that ain't music. I like music."
Please, Randy, don't hold back.
"I do like making movies and all that, but there's enough on our plates to be able to create music, and then all of a sudden you gotta be a TikTok star for any of that to count? No. That's not true. That's a bunch of s--t you're getting sold because your label is too lazy to make you a star or get your music done. They're trying to take the easy way out and press you to do something else. Sorry."
In May, pop singer Halsey turned to TikTok upset that the singer's record label was asking her to create a viral moment on the platform. Halsey said they wouldn't release new music without one. Houser reacted to that on his platform and left no room for equivocation.
"That's what they're trying to do. I'm like, 'No. I'm boycotting that s--t.' I ain't doing it," he says.
Houser performs a moving acoustic version of "Note to Self" during the second half of the video above. The song is the first radio single from his upcoming Note to Self album, set for release on Nov. 11. This album — his sixth — is being released on his own Magnolia Records, so he has the freedom to tell people "No" — even his management team.
"They're always trying to slide in a TikTok on me. They'll just have their phone and try to — like sliding into my DMs or something, and I'm just like, 'Nope.'"
If you get a sense he kind of enjoys doing that, you're onto something.
Bobby Pinson, Casey Beathard and Ross Copperman co-wrote "Note to Self," currently climbing on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The Note to Self album will be his first since Magnolia, released in 2019.