Following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift, Adele is opting to restrict her upcoming album from streaming music services. "25," Adele's highly anticipated album set to release tomorrow, will not be available on Apple Music, Spotify, or other Internet-based streaming music services, reports The New York Times.

Citing three sources with knowledge of the album release plans, The New York Times says Adele was involved in the decision not to share her album on streaming music services. "25" is Adele's first album in nearly five years and has been preceded by "Hello," a single that's already extremely popular, so the decision to restrict the album from streaming services may make fans unhappy.

adele
Taylor Swift was one of the first major artists to take a stand against streaming music, opting to pull her songs from services like Spotify that offered a free listening tier. According to Swift, she did so because "music should not be free" and artists should value their work. It's likely Adele has similar motives, as restricting Swift's latest album "1989" from music sites did not significantly impact its popularity. "1989" sold upwards of 1.2 million copies during its first week of availability, and its believed Adele's new album could sell 2.5 million copies.

Swift initially refused to share her songs on Apple Music because Apple executives did not intend to pay artists during the Apple Music free trial period, but after the company reversed course, she too changed her mind and allowed Apple Music to stream "1989" and her other albums.

While Adele's new music will not be available on Apple Music, customers interested in obtaining the album will be able to purchase it through iTunes.

Adele had also asked Apple to stock her new album in its retail stores, but Apple declined the offer. It's not likely the refusal impacted Adele's decision not to offer her music on streaming sites, and Adele and Apple have also reportedly discussed a possible $30 million tour sponsorship. The status of that potential deal is not known.

Top Rated Comments

penajmz Avatar
109 months ago
Greedy. This is just to force people to buy the full album instead of just streaming it. My guess is this will also force lots of people to pirate it.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Asarien Avatar
109 months ago
I'll get by.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
109 months ago
So it's greedy for the record company to want to sell it via the channel they want - but it's not greedy to TAKE the album for free by receiving a pirated copy? Nice high ground there.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OllyW Avatar
109 months ago
Greedy. This is just to force people to buy the full album instead of just streaming it. My guess is this will also force lots of people to pirate it.
Exactly, it's just executive greed. Get with the times that this is how we want music now, or have you album likely torrented instead.
Still doesn't justify piracy. If you want it then buy it and if you don't want to buy it go without.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PowerBook-G5 Avatar
109 months ago
Goodbye.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
seventhedition Avatar
109 months ago
Really finding it hard to justify my continued subscription to Apple Music if I can't get the music I want when it comes out. If I still have to buy certain songs/albums separately, why am I paying $10/month? Think I will cancel and go back to just purchasing the songs/albums I want.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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