Ondrej Holzman Exactly as expected - a new album 25 by the British singer Adele is a huge hit that is virtually unparalleled in the modern music era. No one has ever sold more copies of an album in the first week than Adele.
As of Friday's release, the highly-anticipated album has sold over 2,5 million copies in the United States 25 (first week could hit up to three million), thus Adele broke NSYNC's previous album record No Strings Attached from 2000. Back then it sold just over 2,4 million copies, but it was a completely different time.
At the turn of the millennium, the music industry was at its commercial peak, and today only a fraction of what boy band NSYNC was able to sell. In addition, she also had more competition, which Adele absolutely crushes today. The best-selling album of 2015 so far Purpose Justin Bieber, but against 25 only about a quarter of it has been sold since Adele.
Since 1991, when the company began to monitor sales in detail Nielsen, Adele's new album is only the second in history to sell two million copies in the United States in a single week. Many then speculate whether the decision is behind the staggering numbers album 25 will not be available on streaming services.
At least from Adele's point of view, it was definitely not a bad decision. Users using Apple Music, Spotify or any other streaming service are out of luck for now. Album 25 they have to buy, whether they pay for said services or not.
John Seabrook of The New Yorker anyway he speculates, what this move could mean for the streaming business in the long run. Adele is expected to release her latest hits for streaming sooner or later, but for now she is making the most of direct sales, which make more money for her and her team of publishers and producers.
But the streaming business, which many see as the future and successor to iTunes (and other retailers), desperately needs artists like Adele or Taylor Swift, who this year refused to give her latest album to music streaming services for free. If Apple Music or Spotify lures with their premium services and then doesn't offer users the most anticipated album of the year, that's a problem. Whether they are to blame or not.
If Adele released her album 25 at least for paid streaming services, it could be a great incentive for many users to switch to premium plans. Adele or Taylor Swift certainly have that power. "In this scenario, Adele might not get the record for album sales, but she would significantly increase the number of streaming subscribers, which would benefit a lot of artists," says Seabrook, who says only Adele wins now.
Going forward, her decision (and others that would follow her) may, for example, destroy at least the free, ad-supported version of Spotify, which many artists disagree with.
I'm not even surprised, I don't know many albums where most of the 11 songs are really great, and I think streaming services will come to the rescue in the first quarter of the new year :-)
It's a simple marketing ploy. The album becomes "the most anticipated" all the more because it can't be streamed right away and every magazine, even the one about Apple, writes about it.
Personally, I think she is harming herself. Apple taught me to pay for music, in the form of a stream from Apple Music, but with the same efficiency, I dismissed any qualms about downloading anything that isn't from them. Well, if I download album 25 from illegal sources, I'm sure I won't be going back to its streaming version (especially since I usually only look for flac) and when iTunes allows me to keep both side by side in an organized way...
so, because of Adele, a lot of users will probably buy CD players again =D it's as if the operator decided that everything will be solved mainly by letter correspondence and not on lines and branches.. =D
"No one has ever sold more copies of an album in the first week than Adele.
Since Friday's release, the highly-anticipated album 2,5 has sold over 25 million copies in the United States (it could hit three million in its first week)."
I don't know how you understand this written text, but you used similes very accurately! If the operator sends you a letter, you will always receive it in your mailbox! (read: most people still have a CD drive at home in their Hi-Fi or PC).
Then I'm probably not like most, because as a user of apple products I only have a device without a mechanism
You see, as an Apple product user, I have a CD drive. And do you know that vinyl records are still being sold? And their sales are growing?
I have a motto: Every coin has two sides. Nothing that Apple says is holy! But I still use it. :O)
I pay for itunes match and google music so I see no reason why I still have a mechanic..
Of course, no argument against taste.
I also use Spotify and I'm just trying to explain to you that in 2015 I don't have a CD drive "only in a museum". Because it seemed to me that this is exactly how you think in your first post.