Adele explained why she won't make songs for TikTok, despite her team wanting her to appeal to teens

• Adele said the "conversation of TikTok" came up a lot while she was recording "30."
• Her team told her it was important that 14-year-olds knew who she was, she said, but she disagreed.

Adele said the "conversation of TikTok" came up a lot while she was recording her latest album, "30," in an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe that was posted to YouTube on November 17.

While wrapping up all the mixing of her new album, which was released on November 19, Adele, who is 33, said her response to her team bringing up TikTok was "Tik-a-Tok-a-Who?"

"They're like, 'We've really got to make sure that these 14-year-olds know who you are,'" she told Lowe. "I'm like, but they've all got moms. They've all got moms, and they've definitely been growing up listening to my music, these 14-year-olds."

She added that if everyone was focusing on making music for TikTok, "who's making the music for my generation?"

"Who's making the music for my peers?" she said. "I will do that job gladly. I would rather cater to the people that are like, on my level in terms of like the amount we've spent on earth, and all the things we've been through. I don't want 12-year-olds listening to this record, it's a bit too deep."

She said the record is for the "30- and 40-year-olds who are all committing to themselves and doing therapy."

"That's my vibe," she said. "Because that's what I was doing. So I'm more concerned with how this record can help them."

As Insider's Connor Perrett reported, TikTok is known for its earworms — derived both from chart music and viral sounds. The platform has been utilized by creators and record labels to promote new tracks from upcoming artists, and also plays a part in older songs resurfacing and booming in popularity once more.

The music industry is evolving as a result. For example, Sam Smith's "Like I Can," Lil Nas X's "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)," DJ Snake's "You Are My High," and the Bee Gees' "More Than A Woman," flooded the app in 2021 thanks to promotions by music-technology company Create Music Group, according to Business Insider's Dan Whateley.

Adele, however, seems determined not to take that path, with any upcoming virality of her music being caused organically.

The singer is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Her music from her three previous albums, "19," "21," and "25," have earned her 15 Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.