Is China exerting pressure on the music industry the same way they did with Hollywood? Record labels refuse to release music unless artists make Tik Tok videos.

Tyler S. Farley

China’s influence on Hollywood is now well known. They’ve slowly taken over Tinseltown through investments and now they have editorial control over almost any script. Their control is so granular, the Chinese government even requests edits of individual scenes and images.

A perfect example is the upcoming sequel to Top Gun starring Tom Cruise. In the original, the main character had a Taiwanese flag on his leather jacket. But in the sequel, and at the request of the Chinese government, that flag has been removed from the iconic character’s clothing.



But now, we are seeing evidence China has infiltrated the music industry as well.

Several artists have come forward saying their labels are using a form of extortion. According to stars like Halesy, FKA Twigs, Charli XCX, and Florence And The Machine, their record companies have told them they will not release any new music of theirs until they start creating videos on Tik Tok.

Of course, Tik Tok is the wildly popular video app owned and ran by the Chinese government through a front company known as Byte Dance.



So why would record companies suddenly threaten to not release any music from their artists unless they create Tik Tok videos? Seems like a strange ultimatum, and one that is most likely coming from China, the same way they influence Hollywood.

It would be understandable if record labels simply told their artists to be more active on Tik Tok, or gave them a social media manager to do it for them. But to tell their artists all new music will be held back from release unless they do it seems like extortion. It also seems like a standard tactic of the Chinese government.



So now that America’s film industry has already been taken over by China, it looks like our music has been as well. Who knows what crazy degeneracy they’ll push on American kids now that China has control of everything they see and hear.

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