Vinyl sales significantly surged in recent years, and many artists are relying on this format to boost their album sales, often releasing multiple vinyl variants. Billie Eilish admitted she’s not a huge fan of this practice, calling it “wasteful”, especially since all the major artists seem to be doing it these days.
Eilish recently set down with Billboard to discuss her approach to environmental activism alongside her mother Maggie Baird. One of the topics that came up was her attempt to make vinyl more sustainable, and Eilish said it’s “really frustrating” to see that many of her peers aren’t doing the same.
“We live in this day and age where it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging… 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,” she explained.
Eilish’s latest album Happier Than Ever came out in eight vinyl variants, but their production process significantly differed from classic vinyl records. Instead of using “virgin vinyl” which contains plastic resin, Eilish relied on using 100% recycled black vinyl, recycled scraps for colored variants, and sugar cane shrink wrap to make her album rollout more eco-friendly.
