Pop sensation label GAYLE has denied claims that the hit song ‘abcdefu’ and its TikTok debut was an industrial marketing ploy by the factory – a theory made popular by a video with more than 13 million views .
“abcdefu” is the biggest song in the world right now. It is currently in its fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. In the US, until this week, also ruled the Billboard Global 200 chart, and you can’t open TikTok on your phone right now without the tune playing.
The song, which expresses anger towards an ex, has been linked to 2.4 million videos on TikTok and viewers heard it for the very first time in July 2021. GAYLE, 17, originally shared the song with an acoustic interpretation on his TikTok before his release.
GAYLE first took to her account asking for songwriting ideas, receiving one from an account named Nancy Berman asking if she could write a breakup song based on the alphabet. A few weeks later, the song was released in its entirety by Atlantic Records.
The video can also be viewed here.
In January, TikToker Daniel Wall used the same app to inform his followers that they had been “lied to about this song”. According to Wall and his investigative work, the comment was left by an Atlantic Records marketing executive, rather than an organic fan comment inspiring the impossible-to-escape melody, as many had recently believed.
“A lot of people insist that this song happened because of TikTok and it definitely exploded because of TikTok,” he said, showing countless videos over the audio.
“But we have to talk about what really happened,” he continued. Wall cited the video “where GAYLE asks for song ideas” and pointed to the comment where Nancy Berman asked if she could write the song. Hey hop, TikTok meets the song.
The problem? Nancy Berman works for Atlantic Records as Head of Digital Marketing. Wall did the hard work and tracked down his LinkedIn, making the discovery.
“Even though it was planned, it worked and there are so many other artists and labels doing it because people like to be part of something and they like a story that they can follow,” he said. -he claimed in his video which can be seen here.
Wall is right in that aspect – fans love an underdog and feel like they’ve been there from the very beginning, witnessing the organic growth of a song or artist right before their eyes. Cur industry factories – artists whose careers were launched by the endorsement of a label, only to diminish any affiliation in the public eye and appear as locals.
According to Atlantic Records, however, Wall is not right to plan everything.
Atlantic Records confirmed Newsweek that the comment was left by label marketing manager Nancy Berman but was just a playful comment as she and GAYLE knew the song would drop in the coming weeks, with the song and video already out recorded.
The teenage singer had also mentioned the song in previous TikToks and people at the label regularly comment on TikTok videos, Atlantic Records confirmed.
Although the commentary and the acoustic interpretation are identified by many as the starting point, this is not true according to the label. The label explained to Newsweek that the song received a little attention after the initial TikTok video, and weeks later upon release, but didn’t even scratch the surface of what was to come.
“abcdefu” really took off months later in November 2021 after a TikTok video translated the song into American Sign Language, going viral and making it what it is now.
This isn’t the first time TikTok users have rushed to “expose” an industrial factory. In 2021, pop-punk girl group Tramp Stamps became the center of accusations of being industry factories after going viral on TikTok, with users speculating the group didn’t exactly have a feel or experience. authentic punk. The mystery behind it has gripped the entire video-sharing platform.
Newsweek contacted Daniel Wall for comment.