Adele’s ‘25’ to Be Available for Streaming, Despite Her Distaste of the Platform

Adele’s ‘25’ to Be Available for Streaming, Despite Her Distaste of the Platform
Adele performs at Genting Arena on March 29, 2016 in Birmingham, England. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
6/23/2016
Updated:
12/30/2023

Adele is singing a different tune when it comes to streaming—“25” will be available for streaming on June 24, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The pop singer revealed in a 2015 interview with TIME that she wasn’t a fan of streaming, deeming it “disposable.”

“I believe music should be an event,” she said. “For me, all albums that come out, I’m excited about leading up to release day. I don’t use streaming. 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.”

She added, “I know that streaming music is the future, but it’s not the only way to consume music. I can’t pledge allegiance to something that I don’t know how I feel about yet.”

Music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music are definitely the now, given most artists use the platforms. Streaming music made up one-third of the music industry’s revenue in 2015, exceeding $2 billion the first time ever. 

The Recording Academy has taken notice of the popularity of streaming, and it announced on June 16 that streaming-only releases will now qualify for Grammy nominations.

Rapper Drake released his fourth studio album, “Views from the 6” as an Apple Music exclusive during the first week of its release, before making it available on all streaming platforms. 

Taylor Swift posted an open letter to Apple last year, voicing her displeasure with the company’s policy on three months of streaming without artist compensation. Apple backtracked and later agreed to pay musicians. 

Kanye West’s seventh album, “The Life of Pablo” sold 94,000 units for the week ending April 7. That’s an estimated 99 million streams—with a whopping 70 percent of sales through streaming. The album became the first in Billboard history to sit atop the charts with most of its sales from streaming.