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Home / News / Adele’s new album won’t be on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming services

Adele’s new album won’t be on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming services

According to a report, she's skipping all streaming for 25 - even the premium kind

Tomorrow sees the release of Adele’s much-anticipated third album, 25, and all signs point to it being perhaps the biggest music release in years – but it sounds like streaming services won’t be able to share in that expected success.

According to the New York Times, Adele and her record labels – XL Recordings and Columbia Records – have informed services that they will not have 25 available to stream tomorrow. And we’re talking about not only Spotify, but also Apple Music, Google Play Music, Tidal, and any other streaming service running today.

The “Why?” isn’t entirely clear, although there’s precedent for this. Taylor Swift withheld her last album, 1989, from Spotify because she felt its free ad-supported streaming option devalued her work, and it remains unavailable on the service. However, she’s allowed it on Apple Music and other services that only have paid, premium subscription plans.

Based on what the Times is reporting, Adele won’t follow that same route: 25 won’t be streaming anywhere, which means the only legal option you’ll have is a proper purchase, either digitally or for a physical copy. And that could well improve its first-week chart performance, as anxious fans avoid the possibility of a long wait for streaming.

Record industry analysts believe the album could sell as many as 2.5 million copies in the first week in the United States alone, and that’s not counting potentially huge international tallies. Given that her last album, 21, is the single best-selling album of the last decade – and the fact that Amazon UK has reported that it’s already its most pre-ordered album of all time – 25 is sure to be gigantic. Sorry, streamers.

[Source: New York Times]

Profile image of Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Freelance Writer

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.

Areas of expertise

Video games, gadgets, apps, smart home