We’re officially in a summer soundtrack state of mind. With songs like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” dominating the charts, Billie Eilish’s latest album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT having everyone in their feels, and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department still being talked about weeks after its release, it’s clear that we’re in for a summer to remember.
If you’ve been scrolling on social media recently, you have definitely heard snippets of Eilish and Swift’s albums respectively, and you’ve probably seen some discussion online about them as well.
Though fans have been obsessing over these albums, there’s been a little drama between these two fandoms online over Swift and Eilish’s May 17 vinyl releases and TBH, it’s totally unnecessary.
How did this drama start?
In March 2024, Billie Eilish did an interview with Billboard, where she expressed her desire to see the music industry become more sustainable in more environmentally conscious ways. Eilish explained the importance of making sure that artists and record labels consider the repercussions of making a variety of different merchandise items for fans to buy, highlighting vinyl records as a main point.
Eilish elaborated on her frustration towards this, and explained how she’s tried to involving her entire management into practicing more sustainable actions. During the interview, Eilish highlighted how “some of the biggest artists in the world [are] making f*cking 40 different vinyl packages,” and how these packages typically only have “a different unique thing” in order to generate more sales. It’s a valid point, especially with how sustainable practices in the industry are getting harder to come by.
Social media users began analyzing Eilish’s interview, and many started to wonder if Eilish was talking about Taylor Swift’s multiple vinyl releases for TTPD.
Since the release of TTPD, there have been a variety of vinyl variants with added on features available for purchase. After Eilish comment was about Swift, the “What I Was Made For?” singer addressed the rumors on her Instagram Story, noting that she wasn’t singling anyone out and that sustainable practices are a “wider issue” than what fans were focusing on.
Billie Eilish talks about the recent vinyl controversy via her Instagram Story pic.twitter.com/kOoYVZWuG3
— Billie Eilish Daily Spotify (@BillieSpotify_) March 31, 2024
Why are Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift being pitted against each other?
On May 17, Eilish released her third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT to critical acclaim and heavy anticipation from fans. However, on the same day Eilish released her album, Swift dropped 3 new versions of TTPD and fans thought this could be seen as shade toward Eilish.
Swift’s new versions contained the first voice memos of songs like “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” “Cassandra,” and “The Black Dog” on digital. There was speculation as to why Swift released these, and especially with how meticulous her releases are, some people believed that this timing could be something more.
Taylor Swift unveils three new digital editions of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ including first draft phone memos of tracks ‘The Black Dog’ ‘Cassandra’ and ‘Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?’ available tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/KicFqnQs7o
— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 16, 2024
On Eilish’s Instagram story on March 31, Eilish expressed how the issues about sustainability are “industry-wide systemic issues” andwhen it comes to vinyl variants, many artists, including herself, release multiple copies. Eilish is right when it comes to how unsustainable and bleak the music industry can be when creating vinyl variants, and fans are missing out on the big picture here: the climate crisis is more important than pitting two artists — especially female artists — against each other.
At the end of the day, Swift and Eilish don’t need to be pit against each other for reasons like this. There are bigger, more important matters and I don’t think either of them intended for this to even be a topic of discussion. Whether you’re a fan of both or just one, we can all agree that both artists are doing their own thing when it comes to their music.