To put it another way, Billie Eilish would want to see some musicians alter their strategies regarding record sales.
She criticized musicians who sell an excessive number of rare vinyl editions in order to persuade fans to buy several copies of the same record and rack up greater sales statistics in a recent interview with Billboard that focused on environmental sustainability. The interview was conducted with her mother, Maggie Baird, who is also a Grammy winner.
Even though Eilish, who is 22 years old, has engaged in the same activity, the tangible copies of her album Happier Than Ever were sold on black vinyl that was created entirely of recycled materials. Additionally, recycled scraps were utilized to create colorful versions of the album, and each record was wrapped with sugarcane shrink wrap.
“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,” according to Eilish, who is 22, “which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money.”
Therefore, Baird, who is 65 years old, chimed in and said, “Well, it counts toward No. 1 albums.”
Continuing, Eilish said, “I am unable to even begin to express to you how wasteful it is.” People are really getting away with it left and right, despite the fact that it is there in front of our own eyes. 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—ing 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more.”
The critically acclaimed “Bad Guy” hitmaker further said, “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—.”
Her mother made the observation that the problem is “systemic,” given that Billboard has the ability to impose “limits” on the number of copies of an album that may be sold or distributed. “I would love to see limits, like no more than four colors,” she said in response. “Or some kind of rules, because you can’t fault an artist for playing the No. 1 game.”
In the next sentence, Eilish compared the practice to a dystopian way of thinking. “I was watching The Hunger Games and it made me think about it, because it’s like, we’re all going to do it because [it’s] the only way to play the game,” she said to me. “It’s just accentuating this already kind of messed up way of this industry working.”
The act of selling many vinyl copies of a single album is not something that is unique to any one artist. The most recent albums, such as Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, are each offered with a variety of collectible album covers and are available in a variety of colored vinyl formats. Recordings of forthcoming albums, such as The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift and Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa, are also available for purchase on vinyl in a variety of hues.
