Billie Eilish Shades Big Stars Like Taylor Swift For 'Wasteful' Album Packaging To Increase Sales

In an interview, Billie Eilish criticized major artists for wasteful album packaging and sales tactics. The young singer urged sustainability and condemned the practice of releasing multiple vinyl packages solely to boost sales. Fans speculate her comments may target Taylor Swift, known for her varied album versions.

Eilish's sustainability efforts extend to her music releases and collaborations. She claims she uses recycled materials and supports eco-friendly initiatives. She also advocates for environmental consciousness amid the looming climate crisis, emphasizing the importance of collective efforts.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Eilish voiced her concerns about "wasteful packaging" and questionable sales tactics within the music industry. The "Bad Guy" hitmaker criticized unnamed "big artists" for resorting to uneconomical and unethical methods to boost album and vinyl sales.

She lamented the environmental impact of such practices, stating: "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…"

"I can't even express to you how wasteful it is," she continued. "It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right."

During the interview, Eilish emphasized her commitment to sustainability and urged others to follow suit.

She said, "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----- 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 s--," she added.

Without explicitly naming any specific artists, some fans speculated that Eilish's critique of multiple album versions may have been aimed at Taylor Swift, known for offering various versions of her albums.

Swift's upcoming album, "Tortured Poets Department," offers four versions of the same songs with unique bonus tracks and artwork.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), fans shared their opinions with one user who agreed with Eilish, writing: "Billie was literally describing Taylor's tactic with TTPD. It was so unnecessary."

However, another fan felt Eilish's comments were unwarranted and hypocritical, writing: "The dig at Taylor and other similar artists about charts and numbers was unnecessary and detracts from her original point. Billie herself put out multiple vinyl variants (sustainably) so her point about chart and number obsession is hypocritical."

In response, a third user retorted: "Do not get her wrong, she's talking about people releasing different vinyls with special tracks just so people feel obligated to buy them. All of her vinyls are the same but different colors so you can choose the one you like the most and that's it."

Another fan pointed out that mainstream artists contribute to wasteful album releases, noting: "It's not just Taylor, it's Ari, Jlo, Beyoncé, etc… main stream artists kinda ruined the trend by releasing 'unique' versions that aren't unique at all. Stick to a cover, [please]."

Before rising to global stardom, Eilish was known among her friends for her meticulous approach to gift unwrapping.

Recalling her experience, the singer-songwriter shared: "When I would get a present, I would carefully undo the tape and carefully unwrap it and not let it rip and I would fold it up so that it could be reused — I didn't want to destroy it."

Her commitment to sustainability extends beyond her personal habits to her professional endeavors. For instance, her "Happier Than Ever" vinyl released in 2021 prioritized recycled materials, with black variants crafted from 100% recycled vinyl and sustainable shrink wrap made from sugar cane.

The nine-time Grammy-winning artist has also invested in REVERB's Music Decarbonization Project, supporting initiatives to reduce the music industry's carbon footprint.

At Chicago's Lollapalooza, she powered her performance with zero-emissions battery systems, utilizing a temporary "solar farm" on-site.

Moreover, in 2022, Eilish collaborated with Nike to create vegan Air Force 1 shoes using recycled materials, and she recently starred in a Gucci campaign featuring sustainable alternatives to leather.

Acknowledging the looming climate crisis, she stated: "Yeah, we're all going to die soon, but we can try our best."