Celeste has accused her record label of showing “very little support” to her new album, and criticised the overall treatment of women in the music industry.
The BRIT Award-winning, Mercury Prize-nominated singer first topped the charts back in 2021 when she shared her debut album ‘Not Your Muse’. Now, she is set to follow it up with the eagerly anticipated sophomore LP ‘Women Of Faces’, which is set to arrive on November 14 via Polydor.
However, taking to Instagram, the singer criticised the label for pressuring her to post more content online, and for not offering as much support for the album as she’d expect.
“I have to be honest right now and say there’s some really f’d stuff happening behind the scenes, but I keep it moving regardless but I’m also told that essentially if I don’t post don’t keep making content that I won’t get support from my label,” her post began.
She added that Polydor “currently have shown very little support towards the album that I have made,” and added that while she understands that there is an expectation to have an online presence, “it doesn’t always feel right to post and not really be able to speak honestly about what’s happening in your life.”
Going on to discuss ‘Women Of Faces’, Celeste explained that she “worked really hard for it even to come into existence against a lot of unfortunate circumstances”, including being allegedly “threatened to be dropped” by her label if she “didn’t put two particular songs on the album”.
“I feel I am being shown a set of consequences for essentially not doing as I was told,” she continued. “It is no coincidence that over so many years too many artists die from depression, suicide, exhaustion, or addiction, or endure long slow painful lives in a depressive state, this will not be me.”
Later in the post, the singer outlined what she feels “needs to change” across the music industry to make things more fair for artists. She said that she had found it to be “male dominated” and brimming with “a lot of men who only listen to themselves, and hold ideals for artists, that reflect their world and there (sic) needs being met, and artists that remain in the image and the role of subservient narrative”.
This, she claimed, was responsible for “keeping women in this subservient narrative, and keeping women in this repeat narrative of tragedy”.
Celeste isn’t the only artist to have called out Polydor. Previously, RAYE, called out the label and accused it of preventing her from releasing her debut album in 2021. The London singer would then part ways with the label weeks later.
She went on to release her debut album independently in 2023, with NME calling it “bold, brilliant and unapologetically her own.”
The ‘Escapism.’ singer then spoke to NME in 2022 about her label struggles, saying: “When you sign with a record label, technically they work for you: you’re signing to a company for them to work for your career and take you to that next level.
“But as a woman, it just doesn’t feel like that. It feels like you’re working for them. And you know, some of the things I had to put my body through to even be able to that… it’s really quite sad.”
In 2024, after taking home a record-breaking six BRIT awards, the singer then hit out at industry executives for underpaying songwriters while taking huge profits for themselves.
Earlier this year, Liverpool band STONE announced their exit from Polydor Records too, and claimed that they were consistently “silenced”, “undermined” and “ignored” by the label.
Hey Fin here. I posted this on my Personal instagram, thought I should share it here too. STONE will never be controlled and we are more unified now than ever. FUCK the Corps who try and control bands n change their sound. We are back.
This won’t get deleted this time. pic.twitter.com/5fyOkdRSrL
— STONE (@STONELIVERPOOL) May 9, 2025
The group released their debut album ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ in 2024 on the major label, and after announcing their departure, frontman Fin Power said he felt a responsibility to “talk honestly” about their time with Polydor because “some new bands need to hear it”.
The singer said that despite having heard the horror stories about major labels, the band were told their vision would be supported and “that promise felt fucking brilliant at the time”. But, he added, “They didn’t mean it”.
Polydor have yet to respond publicly to Celeste’s claims, and NME has reached out for comment.
In a four-star review of Celeste’s debut album, NME wrote: “Whether up-tempo or morose, Celeste’s remarkable voice is the real show-stealer on ‘Not Your Muse’. It has supernatural qualities, turning already poetic lyrics into gut-punch moments.”
The LP was also featured in NME‘s 20 best debut albums of the year list that year.