Disney/Chris Willard
When Billie Eilish‘s most recent album, Happier Than Ever, came out, she offered it in eight different vinyl versions, but all the vinyl was recycled, and the shrink wrap was made from sugarcane. That’s why Billie, who’s all about sustainability, has a problem with artists who go crazy with vinyl variants without thinking about the environmental impact.
Speaking to Billboard, Billie says, “We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging… which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money … I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is.”
“It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right, and I find it really frustrating as somebody who really goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable,” she continues.
“And then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f****** 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” Billie adds. “It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it’s all your favorite artists doing that s***.
Billie’s mom, Maggie Baird, even tells Billboard that she would like the publication to have “limits, like no more than four colors” of vinyl for each release.
Among the artists who most recently offered or are offering different vinyl versions of their albums: Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo, Pearl Jam and Justin Timberlake.
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