Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Adele: 30 becomes 2021's fastest-selling album despite sales drop

Adele: 30 becomes 2021's fastest-selling album despite sales drop

Adele's 30 has shot to number one, overtaking Abba to become the fastest-selling album of the year so far.

Its 261,000 first-week chart sales mean it sped past the Swedish pop group's comeback album Voyage, which opened with 204,000 sales.

However, Adele's sales figures are significantly lower than those of her previous album 25, released in 2015.

That album, her third, opened with 800,000 first-week sales, which means 30 has sold 32% of its predecessor.

The drop can be partially explained by the huge growth of streaming in the last six years. Added to which, there was a greater incentive for fans to buy 25, as it was kept off streaming platforms for its first six months of release.

Adele's opening sales have topped those of Abba's long-awaited comeback album Voyage


Adele won out over Ed Sheeran's = (Equals) album to claim top spot this week.

This means she has now secured a chart double, with the album's lead single Easy On Me remaining number one for a sixth consecutive week.

Adele's opening week success with 30 ensures all four of her albums have now reached number one - a record for a female act.


The album made up 67% of all physical sales and became the most-streamed album of the week, with 55.7 million plays across all tracks.

The numbers mark the biggest first week for an album since Sheeran's ÷ (Divide) in 2017.

It is also strongest opening week for a female solo album since Adele's last studio album 25, which was released in November 2015.

The London-born star has said that 30 is an attempt to explain her divorce from her husband to nine-year-old son Angelo.

The BBC's review said it finds an "emotionally bewildered" Adele "at the top of her game".

Adele's album shines bright - but can her music last?

Adele's last album achieved platinum status in 24 hours, selling 300,000 copies in a single day.

Her latest hasn't reached that figure after a week on sale. But go easy on her - album sales have fallen precipitously in the six years since Adele released 25.

Back then, streaming accounted for just 11% of the UK's music market - and no-one thought it was odd for Adele to withhold her album from Spotify and Apple. By relying on CDs, vinyl and downloads, she racked up a record-breaking 800,000 sales in the space of a week.

Today, 80% of music consumption is on streaming services and most of Adele's fans are happy not to own a hard copy of 30. That's reflected in lower sales figures - but Adele is still setting fire to the rain.

In the US, 30 is already the biggest-seller of the year, overtaking albums by Drake and Olivia Rodrigo. In the UK, her first-week total of 261,000 is miles ahead of the 7,317 copies Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia sold on its fourth week at number one last May (the lowest ever total for a UK chart topper).

The record industry and the media still rely on album sales as a measure of success - but in reality, the public has moved on. Adele's success should really be measured in cultural impact. Her US TV special was watched by more people than the Grammys or the Oscars. The British equivalent drew a peak audience of 5.4 million viewers, helping ITV achieve its biggest Sunday night of the year.

The real question is whether, after this publicity blitz, her new music will hang around.

"Success may be more about whether, two months down the line, we still have memes flooding TikTok and James Corden doing skits," observed music industry analyst Mark Mulligan.

"This will say as much about how the world is responding to her music than how many streams she clocks up."

Abba's Voyage slips to third place this week, while Oasis are a new entry at number four with the live recording of their Britpop-defining Knebworth gig from 1996.

Other debut entries in the top 10 include Robert Plant and Alison Klauss' second collaboration Raise The Roof and London rap collective D Block Europe's new mixtape Home Alone 2.

Rock-pop veterans Elbow also feature with their latest album Flying Dream 1.

In the singles rundown, Adele's chart domination means her biggest competition remains... herself.

The singer's 101,000 chart sales and 11.5 million streams of Easy On Me beat out her two other tracks from 30 - Oh My God, which claims the week's highest new entry at number two, and I Drink Wine at number four.

Easy On Me is now Adele's longest-running chart-topper, outstripping Someone Like You.

Ed Sheeran is Adele's only competition in the top 5 of the singles chart


Her closest competition in the singles chart, Sheeran, slipped to third with Shiver, while Bad Habits spent its 22nd week in the top 10 at number five.

This week's biggest chart jump comes courtesy of 17-year-old Nashville pop prodigy Gayle, whose track ABCDEFU rises 26 positions to number 14.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×