Part of the reason why Adele’s 25 has experienced such incredible sales totals over the past four weeks is because you have to actually buy a physical copy or download it. The album is not available for streaming and Adele explained her decision in a new interview.
The “Hello” singer told Time Magazine that she thinks the release of an album should be an event and there should be excitement surrounding it. Listeners should be excited to have to wait to own an album.
“For me, all albums that come out, I’m excited about leading up to release day. I don’t use streaming,” Adele said. “I buy my music. I download it, and I buy a physical [copy] just to make up for the fact that someone else somewhere isn’t. It’s a bit disposable, streaming.”
Even though she knows that “streaming music is the future,” it’s still not the only option. “I can’t pledge allegiance to something that I don’t know how I feel about yet,” she said.
Adele said that she made the decision not to put 25 on Spotify and other streaming services. It’s a decision she’s proud of.
“I would have been proud even if the album flopped,” she told Time. “I would have been proud because I stuck to my guns, and I think it’s really important as an artist that you do that.”
In the days before 25 was set to hit stores, it was clear that Adele wasn’t going to make her first album since 2011 available to stream. The gamble has paid off and 25 is closing in on 6 million copies sold.