Billie Eilish has spoken up against the practice of “some of the biggest artists in the world” releasing multiple vinyl variants to boost album sales.
In a new interview with Billboard about her sustainability efforts, Eilish vented about the wastefulness that comes from producing different vinyl packages to entice more fan spending.
“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,” Eilish said. “Which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money and gets them more.”
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She continued, “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 — and then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making fucking 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more.”
Eilish added that she finds it “so wasteful” and “irritating” to see “all your favorite artists doing that shit” because they care so much about their sales numbers and “making money.”
As Billboard notes, Eilish isn’t immune from the practice — her most recent studio album, Happier Than Ever, was offered in eight vinyl variants. As a result, the artist earned the second-largest one-week vinyl sales in 30 years.
It’s worth noting, however, that the pressings were manufactured with sustainability in mind, using recycled materials.
Though Eilish didn’t offer up any names, popular artists ranging from Taylor Swift and Travis Scott to Olivia Rodrigo and Blink-182 have put out several vinyl variants of their recent releases. Perhaps they’ll follow her lead and look into using recycled materials in the future.
As for Eilish’s next album, it should be out sometime soon. In February, the musician revealed that the project was now mastered and indicated she was waiting for Ariana Grande to put her album out first.