Lizzo Says “The Golden Age of Music Videos is Over”

Now that her career in the music industry is on life support due to those rumors of harassment from her former dancers, Lizzo took to TikTok to spill the tea on the state of the current music industry.

In her latest video, the GRAMMY winner declared that the “golden age of music videos” and how we used to consume visual art is officially over.

Looking back on the creative, big-budget era of the ’90s and 2000s compared to today’s social-media climate, the Houston native unpacked her stance that the days of iconic rollouts like Michael Jackson‘s ‘Thriller’ and ‘Lady Marmalade’ are long gone.

Instead, the star asserts that the new way to promote your music is to go viral.

Here's what she said:

“The golden age of the music video is over. And actually, it’s been over for a long time. There will never be another ‘Thriller,’ ‘Lady Marmalade,’ or ‘Ladies Night,’ because critical mass and mainstream culture just don’t exist anymore.

Once upon a time, music videos were an extension of an artist’s vision. They gave audiences a face and an aesthetic to go with the song they heard on the radio. It wasn’t about money or metrics – it was just art expanding naturally.”

Continuing, the 37-year-old stated:

“By the late ’90s and early 2000s, everyone was trying to one-up each other with the biggest, most cinematic music video experience. Then YouTube came along.

Music videos became obligatory. Even if an artist didn’t want to shoot one, they had to. In my opinion, that’s when the quality started to decline. It worked for a while… until it didn’t.

For example – I just dropped a music video for my song STFU featuring Lil Jon. And it’s actually really ******* good. But I didn’t even put it on YouTube. Hell, I didn’t even put it on TikTok. Right now, the full video is only on my Instagram page. Why? Because music videos don’t move the needle anymore.”

Check out Lizzo’s video below: