Billie Eilish criticized her music industry colleagues for their “wasteful” practice of releasing countless vinyl versions of albums to increase sales.
The 22-year-old Grammy winner – who recently revealed she partied until 6am after winning her Oscar – gave her thoughts on her sustainability efforts during an interview with Billboard published on Thursday.
“For some reason it’s very important for some artists to make all kinds of vinyl and packaging,” she claimed. “Which increases sales and numbers and makes them more money and makes them more profitable.”
“I can’t even tell you how wasteful it is,” she continued. ‘I find it very frustrating when someone who is really trying to be sustainable goes out of their way and tries to involve everyone on my team in being sustainable.
“And then there are some of the biggest artists in the world making f****** 40 different vinyl packs that have something unique just to keep you buying more.”
Billie Eilish criticized her music industry peers for their ‘wasteful’ practice of releasing numerous vinyl versions of albums to increase sales; pictured in February
“For some reason it’s very important for some artists to make all kinds of vinyl and packaging,” she claimed. ‘Which increases sales and numbers and makes them more money and more’, Happier Than Ever album cover photo
The Bad Guy singer is not exempt from this practice, as her latest studio album, Happier Than Ever, was available in eight different vinyl variations.
However, the variants were “100% recycled black vinyl, plus recycled scraps for colored variants and shrink wrap made from sugar cane,” according to Billboard.
Eilish went on to say that she finds it “so wasteful” and “annoying” to watch “all your favorite artists do that s***,” putting their sales and financial gain above all else.
Although the singer didn’t provide any names, a host of big-name artists, including Taylor Swift, Travis Scott, Olivia Rodrigo and Blink-182, have released numerous vinyl versions of their recent albums.
As for how Eilish fans are responding to her sustainability efforts, Eilish’s mother Maggie Baird told the outlet, “The truth is, you just have to do it anyway.
‘Artists can cast a gigantic shadow of influence. If you are not perfect, but you influence a lot of people to do better, then that is multiplied hundreds of times.’
Towards the end of the interview, Eilish reflected on the widespread apathy towards the severity of the climate crisis, noting the general sentiment of resignation: “What’s the point? We’re all going to die anyway.’
‘Believe me, I feel that way too. But “what’s the point” goes both ways: “What’s the point? I can do whatever I want. We’re all going to die anyway.’ Or, ‘What’s the point? I might as well do the right thing while I’m here.” That’s my opinion,” she explained.
The Bad Guy singer is not exempt from this practice, as her latest studio album, Happier Than Ever, was available in eight different vinyl variations. However, the variants were “100% recycled black vinyl, plus recycled scraps for colored variants and shrink wrap made from sugar cane,” according to Billboard.
Although the singer declined to name names, a host of well-known artists, including Taylor Swift, Travis Scott, Olivia Rodrigo and Blink-182, have released numerous vinyl versions of their recent albums ‘Swift Pictured 2019’.
Swift’s 1989 album has several variants
In February, the musician announced that her upcoming album had been mastered and hinted that she was delaying its release until Ariana Grande’s album came out first.
The upcoming album follows Eilish’s previous works, including 2021’s Happier Than Ever and When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? from 2019.
In 2022, she also unveiled a two-song EP titled Guitar Songs and released a critically acclaimed single titled What Was I Made For? for the Barbie soundtrack.
The single subsequently won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
