Wednesday, December 25, 2024

UPDATED Adele Loses Her Grip on Streaming: Taylor Swift Retakes Number 1 on Spotify, Singles Spotty on Apple Music

The Adele “30” fervor is over.

I told you on Friday that sales for Adele’s “30” were down 75% from her “25” in 2015. That’s a steep drop. First week sales did not crack 1 million.

Most of Adele’s sales were from CDs and downloads. Streaming was a minor factor. That was a surprise after proclamations that “30” had set streaming records.

Well, now the stream is drying up. For the first few days of release, Adele commanded the top dozen or more spots on Spotify’s daily US chart. But this morning, Taylor Swift is number 1 again with her 10 minute “All Too Well.” Adele’s “Easy on Me” is number 2. And then there are only two other “30” tracks on Spotify’s top singles list, “Oh My God,” and “Can I Get It.”

Over on Apple Music’s Top 200, Adele has just three tracks. The first is number 185, from her “25” album. There are two more, also from that album. Apple Music streaming is ignoring “30.” And that’s even after Adele gave Zane Lowe her recipe for porridge!

Updated thanks to a sharp eyed Adele fan: Singles are spotty on the Apple Music chart. But “Easy on Me” holds on to number 1.

Streaming for all tracks on “30” except for “Easy on Me” is pretty low. While the single has 355 million streams, the other songs average 25 million. According to hitsdailydouble.com, “Easy on Me” was second to “All Too Well” the week ending November 18th in revenue, by a lot: Swift earned $290,000 to Adele’s $130,000.

I did have a feeling this would happen. Those songs are doorstops. They’re too long for streaming. “All Too Well” is a phenom and one of a kind. Adele has several songs over 5 and 6 minutes. Streaming is for people with concentration issues. They’re not going to sit still for that. And many of the Adele songs sound similar have the same theme. One is all you need, and that’s “Easy On Me.” Sony had better rev up “Can I Get It” as a single, if that even matters.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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