Pink Floyd Needs No Education About TikTok as They Join Platform

The group is “Learning to Fly” on the video app

(from Billboard & Rolling Stone)

Is their label forcing Pink Floyd to go viral on TikTok, too? On Monday, the iconic band joined the video platform by sharing generic-ish videos with some of their most iconic songs. But hey, now they’re on the app.

The band used a hypnotic spinning pyramid set to “Breathe (In the Air)” on the social platform to commemorate the pending 50-year anniversary of their seminal album The Dark Side of the Moon, which turns half-a-century old next spring.

Posted just hours later, Pink Floyd’s second video is more straightforward in heralding their arrival on the popular social media platform. Text appears on the screen reading “PINK FLOYD NOW ON TIKTOK” over “Another Brick in the Wall” from 1979’s The Wall. “We don’t need no education/ We don’t need no false control/ No dark sarcasm in the classroom/ Teacher, leave…” the late Syd Barrett intones before the clip abruptly cuts off.

After just one day on the app, the veteran English psych rockers have have amassed more than 7,500 followers and shared two different videos. By Tuesday morning, the group had garnered more than 14,000 followers.

Their arrival on the platform comes as their record The Dark Side of the Moon turns 50. Their first post featured a simple rotating pyramid with the word “Breathe” and “Don’t be afraid to care” appearing above it. (What intern did this?)

“1 of the most successful & influential rock groups,” their bio read.

In April, surviving members David Gilmour and Nick Mason joined Ukranian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk to release “Hey Hey Rise Up,” a track dedicated to the people of Ukraine, with funds donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund.

“The following that we have as Pink Floyd — the size of the platform. When I spoke to Nick, and he said he was willing to do it as Pink Floyd, it seemed like a no-brainer,” Gilmour told Rolling Stone about their return in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war. “We want to spread this message of peace, and we want to raise the morale of the people who are defending their homeland there in Ukraine. So why not?”

During the interview, Gilmour added that he’s “hoping to get an album finished at some point” but described the Ukraine-focused track as a “one-off” for the group.

In April, Pink Floyd released “Hey Hey Rise Up,” their first single in almost 30 years — with surviving members David Gilmour and Nick Mason (sans Roger Waters) recruiting Ukrainian vocalist Andriy Khlyvnyuk for the charity track. Proceeds from the song are being donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund.

In protest to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, the band has also scrubbed all of their music released after 1987 — as well as the entirety of Gilmour’s solo catalog — from DSPs in both Russia and Belarus.

Last month, Billboard did a deep dive around the ongoing auction of Pink Floyd’s recorded masters and other rights to analyze its potential valuation and why potential buyers are eager to get their hands on the catalog.