Julia Michaels Delights in Having ‘Creative Freedom’ After Starting Her Own Label

Julia Michaels is exactly where she wants to be after taking a huge leap of faith. 

While attending the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, Sept. 20, the “Issues” singer, 31, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about her decision to leave Republic Records in 2023 after over seven years at the major label.

“It feels amazing. I started my label last year, and it just feels really great to be able to have creative control, creative freedom, to be able to take my power back,” she tells PEOPLE.

“I get to release songs again. I get to make music videos again,” Michaels adds. “I get to see my fans again, perform again. So it’s just life-changing.”

On Friday, Sept. 19, she released new single “No Heartbreak’s Killed Me Yet” alongside a music video that shows her roaming the streets of New York City.

The song follows her May 2025 EP, Second Self, which was also released under her GFY Records.

“I just felt like I was stuck on a label where there were maybe bigger priorities than me,” Michaels says of her time at Republic Records. “It’s really hard to get people to believe in you sometimes, and then in turn you start to not believe in yourself.

“It took being able to leave my label for me to want to put music out again,” she adds.

The “Scissors” singer’s life has been full of change lately, as earlier this year she got engaged to tattoo artist Mat Rule.

Michaels showed a close-up of her engagement ring, which has an oval-shaped diamond set on a gold band in an Instagram post.

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“Yes to you forever and always,” she captioned the photos on April 25. “Thank you for being the most incredible man I’ve ever met. I can’t wait to marry you.”

Speaking about the wedding, she recently said, will be “nothing like crazy.”