The arrival of Taylor Swift’s newest album The Life of a Showgirl brought nothing short of excitement for Swifties; However, it seems that their excitement brought poor financial decisions and climate issues along for the ride.
While it’s commonplace for artists to release 4-5 variations of their newest hits, Taylor Swift has struck gold— a whopping 34 variations of her newest album, featuring CDs, Vinyls, and other online exclusives, rack up a price tag of over $800 dollars for her most dedicated fans. This isn’t the first instance of Swift’s trend of excessive releases, and from an outside perspective, we can only ask: When is enough, enough?
While the content on each item varies slightly, with promises of an extra voice memo or unreleased track, most fans admit to buying their albums for the sole purpose of collecting— or even the right to say they own every version of each album. To make matters worse, Swift has utilized the tactic of time-limited releases, pressuring people to spend more, possibly when they can’t afford to do so— but anything to get that extra voice memo, right?
On top of consumer spending, the overproduction of these albums introduces even greater damage to our environment. Production of just one CD and its packaging releases about 4.8 lbs. of carbon dioxide into the air. If you don’t already know, carbon dioxide traps heat in our atmosphere, actively contributing to the warming of our planet.
You might be asking— Why does it matter? Collecting can be a fun hobby, but it can quickly build a hefty price tag. While people can spend their money on whatever they want, it’s important that even the most dedicated music fans stay vigilant of their spending habits based on prioritizing wants over needs. On the production side of things, artists and producers need to look beyond the monetary aspect of music and realize the true damage the overproduction of physical albums does to our planet.
