In the days before Nov. 20, my attention and anticipation is pinging back and forth between Mockingjay: Part 2 and Adele's upcoming album 25, both of which are being released that day, and on Monday, the album is the more important of the two. And it's all because of this question: will Adele's 25 be on Spotify? I realize this is kind of a silly question for most of us, as I assume I'm not alone in pre-ordering the album on iTunes the moment — and I mean the moment — it was announced, but maybe there are some of you out there still on the fence about Adele (gasp!) who need to hear her new album for free (blasphemy!) before they can make their ultimate decision, because they weren't that blown away by "Hello" (*faints*). I don't understand you, but I do respect you.
Update: On June 23, Adele's 25 was revealed by Entertainment Weekly to be coming to Spotify at midnight on Friday. While we have no idea what changed the singer's mind about making the album available for streaming, you can bet there's a listening party going on in time zones across the world.
Earlier: So, what's the call? The bad news is, there have been some rumors that Adele is threatening to hold 25 off of Spotify unless the streaming-service agrees to release it exclusively to their paid subscribers. So, unless you're a premium user, you might be out of luck. But! There's also a chance that rumor isn't true, as Spotify has denied it. A senior executive told The Verge that, "It is categorically untrue that anyone has asked us to feature Adele’s new album on premium only." All right, sure... so who know what to think about that. But I suspect, at the end of the day, 25 will make its way to Spotify, because a) her other albums are there, saints be praised, and b) if Adele was making demands, I'm guessing Spotify wouldn't hesitate to bow to them, as the predicted numbers on this album are through the roof.
According to Billboard, Adele will be selling over 1 million copies of 25 in the first week no question, with the actual number being predicted at between 1.3 and 1.8 million. Woof! Just to give you some context, the last album to break 1 million was Taylor Swift's 1989, which sold 1.29 million in its first week in 2014, and the current record-holder for biggest debut week for a female artist ever is Britney Spears, whose Baby One More Time sold 1.32 million in 2001. So, Adele will almost certainly crush those numbers, and it would be in Spotify's best interest to be around to see it happen.
I believe Adele wouldn't do any of us like that, especially not Spotify, who have kept her music alive for all their subscribers, free and paid, while we wait for her to make more of it. So, will Adele's 25 be on Spotify? The answer has got to be yes.
Image: Giphy
