Adele ’25’: Five Things You Need To Know

For weeks, everyone’s been talking about the upcoming Adele album, 25. It’s been all over social media, and news stories are popping up everywhere. Reviews are coming out left and right. Here’s everything you need to know to be on top of this Adele phenomenon, which was finally released today, November 20.

5) “Hello” Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

If you haven’t heard it yet, you must be living under a rock. “Hello” was the song chosen to be the first single from 25. It’s been playing non-stop since it was released by XL Recordings on October 23. “Hello” was the first new Adele single in three years, CNN reports, and it was released as a small taste of Adele’s 25.

Not surprisingly, Adele and the world saw “Hello” rocket to the top of the charts almost instantly. Her last album, 21 was at the top of the Billboard 200 chart for 24 weeks, or nearly six months. It spent more weeks at number one than any other album by a female artist.

4) Adele Is Clearly Expecting To Sell A Lot Of CD’s (Remember Those?)

The market for physical copies of albums has dwindled significantly in the digital age. That hasn’t stopped Adele’s label, Columbia Records, from shipping a reported 3.6 million physical copies of 25 to the United States alone. The last time that many copies of a newly released CD’s was shipped when a new album dripped was in 2000. The album? No Strings Attached by *NSYNC. When No Strings Attached was released, 4.2 million units were shipped, reports Billboard. Of course, when *NSYNC was in their prime, a lot more people were buying CD’s, too.

The rumor is that Sony (parent company of Columbia Records) is anticipating that 1.5 million of those copies of the new Adele CD will sell in the first week alone, with digital downloads of about 1 million.

While Billboard estimated that 1.5 million physical CD copies of Adele’s 25 would sell in the first week, the Independent is reporting that first day CD sales alone may reach 1 million. Fans reportedly lined up in stores to buy a copy of the new Adele, something that doesn’t happen very often anymore.

It’s now being estimated by industry insiders that in addition to first day CD sales of 1 million, Adele 25 could sell 3.5 million copies in its first week, worldwide.

Target got in on the rarity of a CD that could potentially sell millions of copies by arranging to sell a limited edition version of Adele’s 25 with three bonus tracks, in addition to the 11 on the mass-released album. There are reports of the limited edition selling out in some locations.

Mostly, the accusations have come from Twitter users, reports Fuse. The ears of some listeners hear the iconic song “Martha” (from Tom Waits’ 1973 album Closing Time) reflected heavily in “Hello,” the first single from Adele’s album 25, or, at the very least, in the song’s opening verse. In a year where we’ve seen a few musical copyright scandals, this one has stayed pretty low-key.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlmgghzzcIY

1) Adele 25 Won’t Be Streaming

If you want to listen to all 11 tracks of Adele’s 25, don’t expect to do it on Spotify or Apple Music. The New York Times is reporting that less than 24 hours before 25 was released, industry insiders confirmed that it would not be available for streaming. Adele, or more likely record label execs, decided to buck the trend that has become so popular among listeners. Presumably, this tactic was adopted to boost album sales, a marketing gimmick that seems to be working.

Not surprisingly, some fans are less than thrilled.

By all accounts, the disappointment for streaming fans will linger for a while. You can check out the full track list for Adele’s latest album, 25, here before you buy the CD or download the album.

[Image Courtesy Of Kevin Winter/Getty Images]