Billie Eilish responds to backlash after criticising artists who release multiple vinyl variants
2 April 2024, 14:31
Billie Eilish says Bad Guy is “the stupidest song in the world”
"I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide system issues."
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Billie Eilish has called out artists who sell multiple vinyl variants to boost their album sales, questioning the impact it's having on the environment.
In case you didn't know, Billie has long been incredibly mindful of her overall environmental impact. She doesn't fly in private planes, and is currently working to make vinyl more sustainable. She used 100% recycled black vinyl for her Happier Than Ever album, used recycled scraps for its coloured variants, and used shrink-wrap made from sugar cane.
While it's not a new trend by any means, music fans have taken note of the uptick in multiple vinyl variants being sold by artists all over the world, across a variety of genres.
Billie's comments quickly went viral, with fan groups pulling up names of artists who they think are guilty of the exact thing she mentioned. Billie has now taken to her Instagram Stories to clarify that she was not singling anyone out specifically.
"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 and gets them more," Billie said in a new Billboard interview with her mother Maggie Baird.
"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," 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 f–king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more."
"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 sh*t," she added.
After Billie's comments started doing the rounds on social media, fans started calling out several other artists. It wasn't long before Taylor Swift's name popped up either, with people mentioning the vinyl variants she's released over the past few years. In turn, the Swifties then started criticising Billie.
Responding to the conversation that spiralled out of control on social media, Billie wrote: "Okay so it would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what I said in that Billboard article."
"I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide system issues [and] when it comes to variants, so many artists release them — including ME! which I clearly state in the article," she added, pointing out that she was also referring to herself.
"The climate crisis is now and it’s about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better sheesh."
Read more Billie Eilish news here:
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- Billie Eilish shows off huge back tattoo: Here's the meaning behind it
- Billie Eilish says men don’t get body-shamed like women because "girls are nice"
- Billie Eilish says she feels "very hated and disliked"
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