Whether you love TikTok or hate it, the app has undeniably changed how fans interact with music. Artists and their teams are constantly searching for ways to use it to their benefit, finding ways to make fans popularize their songs through viral dances or memes. But it appears that Fiona Apple may not be keen on having her music reinterpreted via social media. Users discovered this week that nearly her entire discography has been removed from the app, save for niche tunes like her cover of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” and her rendition of “Frosty the Snowman.” The move has left fans wondering if they did a bad, bad thing and were careless with a delicate lyricist.
The removal may stem from copyright infighting, but per The A.V. Club, TikTok and Fiona Apple’s label home Sony Music Entertainment inked a deal in 2020 that made use of its artists’ music on the app fair game. It’s more likely that the singer herself didn’t care for the way her songs were being used to repopularize problematic “sad girl” stereotypes, the same heroin chic corner of pop culture that Apple has been typecast into since her debut. Some users were going so far as to create TikToks labeling themselves “femcels” (ew) or “female manipulators,” using Apple’s classic “Sullen Girl.”
