Billie Eilish has clarified that her recent criticism of the “wasteful” nature of musicians releasing multiple physical formats of the same albums was not aimed at one artist in particular.
In a recent interview with Billboard, the Bad Guy singer commented on the unsustainability of releasing albums in numerous packaging variants to boost sales.
She added: “It’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f–king 40 different vinyl packages”.
Several publications were quick to jump to the conclusion that the singer was referring to Taylor Swift, who is known for releasing her albums on vinyl in different colours and with different packaging.
Other artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Ariana Grande have also previously released single albums on various vinyl formats in recent history.
Billie has since responded to clarify that she was not singling anyone out, and even included herself in the guilty parties.
“It would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what I said in that Billboard article,” she wrote on her Instagram stories over the weekend.
“I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues and when it comes to variants, so many artists release them, including ME! Which I clearly state in the article.
“The climate crisis is now and it’s about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better.”
In her original interview, the two-time Oscar winner did, indeed, note that “we’re all going to do it because [it’s] the only way to play the game”, adding: “It’s just accentuating this already kind of messed up way of this industry working.”
She also said she finds the practice “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”.
Billie has long challenged sustainability issues over the course of her music career.
While her own album Happier Than Ever came in eight vinyl variants, she used 100 per cent recycled black vinyl, along with recycled scraps for the coloured variants and shrink-wrap made from sugar cane.
She also hosted the London Overheated climate action event with her mum in 2023, and last year helped to launch and fund REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project, which aims to eliminate carbon emissions from the music industry.