Adele is one of the most-popular music artists in the world at the moment, so it’s pretty obvious that her first new album in nearly five years is going to be massive. Many analysts are predicting that it’ll actually be the fastest-selling album ever, and in order to ensure that happens, it looks like the album’s distributors won’t be releasing it on any music streaming services at launch. According to the New York Times, all of the major streaming services have been informed that it won’t be available to stream when it launches tomorrow, a decision that was apparently influenced by Adele herself.
For weeks, the music industry has been awaiting the release of Adele’s new album, “25,” with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. The album is all but certain to be a gigantic hit, but Adele had not revealed whether she would release it on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. The answer is no. With less than 24 hours before the album’s release on Friday, the major digital services have been told that “25” will not be made available for streaming, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plans for the release. The album is being released by Columbia Records in the United States, and by an independent, XL Recordings, in Europe and most of the rest of the world. A spokesman for Adele declined to comment. Adele is said to have been personally involved with the decision about streaming, a year after Taylor Swift withdrew her music from Spotify over complaints about the royalties paid by streaming outlets. Adele’s “25,” her first release in almost five years, has been highly anticipated throughout the music industry and is expected to be a major blockbuster. Billboard magazine reported late Wednesday that music executives expect the album to sell about 2.5 million copies in its first week. That would be the biggest week for any new album since ‘N Sync’s “No Strings Attached” sold just over 2.4 million in 2000, at the peak of the CD era.
