Adele’s ’25’ Becomes 2015’s Biggest Selling Album / Sells 2.3 Million In 3 Days

Published: Monday 23rd Nov 2015 by Sam
adele-25-cover-thatgrapejuice

As if it wasn’t abundantly clear: Adele has ascended to the top of the Pop pack. Indeed, no matter which way it’s diced, sliced or spiced, there isn’t a charting act within reaching distance of her domination with new album ’25.’

Uncaged on November 20th – four years after its predecessor ’21’ smashed records of its own, the ‘Hello’ led LP has hit a sales stride that – after just three says – sees it factually on course to shatter NSYNC‘s 15-year record.

Full tea is spilt after the jump…

According to Nielsen Music, ’25’ had sold 2.3 million US copies as of November 22nd (less than three days after its release). Astoundingly, a large portion of this number comes courtesy of iTunes where 900,000 purchases were made on the first day of availability.

The feat sees the album instantaneously become the year’s biggest-seller, besting the 1.76 million sold by Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ (which was originally released in 2014 and has sold 5.42 million in total.)

What’s more, the figure – which forecasters predict will likely end up at the 2.9 million mark – means the 27-year old British sensation will blow past Pop outfit NSYNC – who previously held the single-week-sales-record for their 2000 album ‘No Strings Attached.’ That collection sold 2,416,000 first week with that collection.

Jaw-dropping on its own accord, it’s rendered even more so when considering how dramatically the music buying landscape has changed in the time since Justin Timberlake and friends ruled the roost (see: paltry sales x the streaming explosion).

To see an artist not only weather that storm, but create the perfect storm of excitement with deserving music, genuinely warms us.

We’re also loving and living for the strategy powering the movement; because make no mistake, there is most definitely a strategy. The viral nature of the “Adele” buzz rarely just happens. There’s clearly a goal to ensure she’s physically not pounding the promotional pavement like rent was due; instead her team have paired up with smart partners to create an “event” like feel around each piece of promo she does do (see: NBC, BBC).

It will be intriguing to see how the era plays out; will the hype sustain? Which songs will enjoy ‘Someone Like You’ type  success? And, of course, the question that doesn’t matter yet kinda does – will ’25’ outsell ’21’?

In a broader sense, we’re eager to see what ripple effect (if any) the Adele campaign will have on other big name stars set to release new music in the coming year. For, while some have gone “all out” and enjoyed the pros and cons of said route (see: Lady Gaga), others such as Beyonce have embraced a much more minimalist approach and reaped huge rewards critically and commercially (see: self-titled era).

With Adele, she arguably one ups the competition by having cultivated a campaign that combines the omnipresence of an “event” record, while herself never appearing enough to be deemed over-exposed. It quite literally is the best of both worlds and is ultimately changing the music landscape because of it. How her contemporaries react to this with future projects will be fascinating to see.

Until then, we’ll continue to keep tipping our wigs hats to Ms. Adkins!

Your thoughts?

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  1. HailBeysus November 23, 2015

    YAAAASSSS SLAY ADELE SLAY!!!

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will Bey

      • ADC143 November 24, 2015

        When will Janet? ROFLMAO! Never in this life or even the next two.

      • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

        Biitch

  2. TRAVON AUSTIN November 23, 2015

    Yessss Queen

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will u tuck yo darm tampon string? Biitch aint nobody wanna see yo tampon string hanging out.

  3. #TeamTinashe Stan November 23, 2015

    Oh no…. I don’t feel like reading essays right now. Is she gonna break NSYNC (Backstreet is better than them imo) first week?

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will yo mammy come off the corner?

  4. King Stephy November 23, 2015

    DEAD @ her outselling everybody in 2 damn days.

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will moomoo

  5. Wow! November 23, 2015

    Her album is so freaking depressing though…

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will u eat my puussy?

  6. ?Queen Molly? November 23, 2015

    Damn its gonna do 3M+ first week… Adele is the true queen.. Bows down

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will cici Jackie sell 30k total?

  7. Royalkev November 23, 2015

    Wow! These sales are unbelievable! I guess it’s official, she won’t be following in the footsteps of Norah Jones and Alanis Morissette.

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will riri just release her damn cd?

  8. Tyler Makiavelli November 23, 2015

    Whoa! Adele is a f****** beast. She’s going to be dominating Billboard for the next few months.

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will Taylor?

  9. DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

    The really sad thing is Adele probably outsold everyone in ONE day… 900k figure was just itunes. T SWIFT sales 400k on itunes first week… bey breaks that record with 400+k in first 24 hours & 800+k first week. ADELE breaks THAT record in ONE day. The h o l y t r i n i t y BEY TAYLOR ADELE. SRRY RIHORNES…. ANTI DEPRESANT sales predictions 140k.

    • Faf November 23, 2015

      That much? It’s tidal only

      • DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

        LMAO thanx for reminding me. Revised: 0 copies first week lol 98k 2nd depressing reweek for ANTI DEPRESSANT. #ANTI HIT/HYPE

    • shakira stan November 24, 2015

      Ummm beyonce doesn’t belong in that list .That’s like insulting Adele and swift

      • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

        When will shikra?

  10. No favs, just here for the music November 23, 2015

    WOOOOW this is just amazing.

    Yeah I’m VERY curious myself to know if 25 will outsell 21. Only time will tell

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will this FAT cottage cheese eatn biitch loose weight??

  11. Gee November 23, 2015

    Adele came back and conquered the game.

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      When will yo mammy conquer her YEAST infection?? 😐

  12. FAKE SONGWRITING CREDITS November 23, 2015

    But I thought bayonce was the king, the greatest, better vocalist than Mariah, better dancer than Janet, the whole package, why can’t the people see that and buy her albums, is it all marketing?, she pushed her brand as hard as she could, why can’t she be half as good. WHY?

    • Incredible November 23, 2015

      I don’t think her fans will ever answer that … let alone rihanna fans too. Adele on top of that is not relying on s** or having monica lewisnky type lyrics too embrace her dominance in this music industry. finally a true artist.

      • HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

        YOu better spill that hot tea darling!

      • just saying November 24, 2015

        adele doesn’t get naked or rely on s** because she’s fat. no shade, just facts. she literally has no choice but to rely on guerrilla marketing, hype and her “voice.”

    • sit dog November 23, 2015

      Adele is being hyped just like Beyonce was, just . A doffered way. Adele doesn’t sound like I need to hurry and get her stuff on my m**. To me, it’s nice…just nice. I won’t fall for the hype though. I will say that half naked phase beyonce went through hurt her alot, there’s nothing left to the imagination. Adele’s career might go further because they chose to hype her voice, not her body. I like Beyonce, I think she’s very beautiful, and I think she can sing very nicely, but what got me with her was the fact that she chose that sleezy route. It’s hard to come back from such a negative image. It’s something she should’ve done at the beginning of her career. Just my opinion.

      • DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

        Bey is a CLASSIC artist by classic i mean mega star… they ALWAYS start out innocent… mj bey britney mariah until they GET REAL… rihanna included. Taylor swift & adele on the otherhand are UN S E X Y. THEY cant afford it becuz they arent s e x y.

    • Biracial Butterfly November 24, 2015

      Adele is white, Beyonce is black.

      • wayno November 24, 2015

        Sorry….her cd is top 10 on the R&B CHART TOO….LMAO AT THE RACE CARD

  13. IG: @mixedboy November 23, 2015

    #SLAYDELE MY LIFE!!

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      Slay yo musty puussy odor

  14. Rosie November 23, 2015

    Death so she broke NSYNC’s record today. I think 3 million is a lock, I can’t at this b**** selling 600K a day.
    Let’s not start at her selling over 530K in the UK in the same time period. She’ll have the all time record there too.

  15. HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

    She is the true queen…When will BEY-hasbeen???

    • HailBeysus November 23, 2015

      You look like a has been crypt keeper with that avi sweetie so stop!

      • HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

        Still tea honey

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      Heeeeey @honeychile!!! Welcome back love.

  16. HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

    She outsold beyhasbeen whole career with two albums..that’s the true tea honey!

    • HailBeysus November 23, 2015

      kiii not even! Stop riding Adeles sales ! Adele hasn’t passed the 90million mark in record sales. Bey stands at 152 million record’s sold.

  17. sit dog November 23, 2015

    Adele’s new album has like 9 songs that all same the same to me. They’re all slow depressing ballads with her singing about how she’s still not over her ex (even though now she’s a mother and in a relationship) so I don’t understand why she’s still singing the same old sad song over and over again. There’s like only 2 songs on the entire album that are somewhat upbeat. No thanks I’ll pass. I almost fell for the hype. Good thing iTunes lets you preview the entire album before you buy, or else I would’ve been mad if I wasted my money.

  18. King Stephy November 23, 2015

    @HONEYCHILDPLEASE! I missed you sooo much boo. Glad to see you back!

    • HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

      Hey darling i pop up every once in a while child!

      • King Stephy November 23, 2015

        Chawwwwl, keep them pop ups coming Honey Child. I love 4 them, chile…

  19. HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

    Honey beyhasbeen couldn’t sell this much in her prime..true tea is she couldn’t even outsell Alicia keys, but she was QUeen? or hype…

    • DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

      Adele is ADELE. bey sells albums. The diffrence is adele sings WHITE FOLK music. Bey does r&b hiphop urban music… why should should she be expected to do anymore than outsell EVERY OTHER BLACK ARTIST TODAY.

    • DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

      Including HAS BEEN KEYS lol @ the self drag… besides justin timberlake bey is the only one from the 90s still relavant and able to compete with WHITE folk lol

  20. HailBeysus November 23, 2015

    Kiii haters once again come running in behind Adele to shade Queen Yonce lmao! Stay pressed bitxhes!!!

  21. DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

    Bey blessed adele with a brand new day dubbed FRIDAY. Adele blessed the music climate… both benefit off HURRICANE BEY/ADELE MASACRE. TEAMBEY TEAMSWIFT TEAMADELE

  22. HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

    Beyonce has been driven on hype..Her fans hype her up to the point she can’t even top it. Artist like adele sell on talent, and music alone. THe real tea is beyhasbeen has never been a major album seller, but don’t tell her fans that.. truth hurts honey i know. let me see beyhasbeen sell like this just once. You can’t call yourself a QUeen, and can’t compete with sales like adele or even taylor…sit down please darling

    • truth(Janet is QWEEN, was a hot MaDINOSAUR is a flop! Deal!) November 24, 2015

      Yaaaassds biitch

  23. DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 23, 2015

    @ the pressed a s s h o l e fat troll

    No bey isnt and never been a big block buster album seller but she is a good one and a consistant one. Multi talented and more well rounded successwise out side of albums but has tours and awards and broke records movies and HUGE IMPACT. EASILY the biggest BLACK artist and closest thing to MJ.

  24. HoneychildPlease November 23, 2015

    fat B*tch about to go into a diabetic coma over HONEY child..

  25. DIABETES UNBOTHERED November 24, 2015

    #UNBOTHERED!

  26. Fun fact November 24, 2015

    Fun fact. Adele out out soold Beyonce self titled albumin 3 days.

  27. Ajm265 November 24, 2015

    Adele is white …that is all. Not sure what the fascination with the blue eyed soul from The United Kingdom, African American have been singing these types of songs for years no world shattering records. What’s even more crazy Taylor Swift is the only American act that can really sell records here in America every other popular selling act is not from here . I.e Drake, The Weekend, Rihanna ,Sam Smith and Justin Bieber. What’s even more crazy is Beyoncé is an American artist that works twice as hard as many different artist and she gets dragged through the mud for doing what she has to do to sell records, while these are the artist get praise for mediocrity. this is what’s wrong with our country.

  28. Tyler Makiavelli November 24, 2015

    @HoneyChildPlease

    Beyonce never sold that much in her prime but guess what? Rihanna has yet to have an era more successful that DIL.

    WHERE’S ANTI? She’s the one who chose a november release not Beyonce. Adele will be the end of her!

    • coolness November 24, 2015

      I’m a Bey fan and I used to wonder why she never really had a blockbuster album (I say about 5 million up constitutes as such) in her solo career. DC had one with TWOW. I remember when I started showing interest in sales and charts and was surprised to find out that DIL was at 4 million in the US. I guess it was just bad timing because I once read that sales were down from about 2001 to 2003 but the recording industry saw a resurgence in 2004. Either way, if you compare Bey’s CURRENT standing to that of her peers who were shifting albums upward of 5 million copies in the 2000s, you can see that consistency is the key because many of them can’t even scan Gold let alone Platinum these days. And Rihanna fans shouldn’t even be talking about album sales since her best-selling work was almost a decade ago and sold just about 2 million copies in the US.

  29. @JanetCIARA_ November 24, 2015

    Mind Blown

  30. thando November 24, 2015

    I love “All I ask”, “I miss you”, “Send my love (to your new lover)”, “Sweetest Devotion”.

  31. lolz November 24, 2015

    @Tyler
    You are so right about that best commentators and trolls post I’d love to see Sam finally expose who really are behind the Jessica and ***Flawless accounts

  32. Theman November 24, 2015

    Lol now it’s because she’s white. Bullshyt. MC WH JANET & CELINE ALONG WITH BRITNEY & CHRISTINA EACH HAD AT LEAST ONE HUGE SELLING ALBUM. BEYONCE DOESN’T SHE IS NOT IN THE SAME COMPANY AS ADELE/TAYLOR WHEN IT COMES TO SELLING ALBUMS. BEYONCE MAKES WHATEVER MUSIC SHE CHOOSES. SHE HAS GOOD SALES BUT NOT OUTSTANDING. WHENEVER ANOTHER ARTIST TOPS HER HERE COMES ALL OF THE CRAP. LOL THIS IS WILDLY HUGE FOR ADELE. THIS IS SO SO AMAZING!!!!

  33. CherylSoldierr November 24, 2015

    Wait, is hoesie bandwagoning Adele now? Gaga to bey to llama to flopsey to grimey to the next tumblr fad ☕️

    • Rosie November 24, 2015

      Is Cheryl Cole still struggling to sell 80K worldwide?
      Is she still a local flop b**** who has to cling to the X-Factor to save the last dying breath of its career?
      Can she still tour at this point? Even my flop Tumblr faves can sell out arenas these days.
      Why is she being outsold by flop acts who only have careers because Arctic Monkeys happened post-2005?
      Speaking of Arctic Monkeys, they debuted only a few years after Girls Alocal. Why are they bigger than ever why Chav has to cling to a declining talent show for quick 1-week #1s that plummet faster down the charts than Huntymoon?
      Is that why she was caught snorting coke at the BFAs just this week and is now suing for damages and doing everything she can to keep it off the internet?
      So many questions…

    • Rosie November 24, 2015

      By the way, fāg, if you want to talk to me don’t be scared to just drop in my reply box. It can’t be that hard to just directly respond to me instead of just throwing tired shade on a brand new comment, no?

  34. JanStan November 24, 2015

    I called it. And with black Friday I see her doing at least another million second week. Rihannas Tidal release strategy renders it pretty much irrelevant out the gate. Aint no one talking about it or the tour. Adele owns the next few years and any new release during this time will ALWAYS reference Adele’s slayage and be seen as aa Flop. Tough time to be an artist.

  35. coolness November 24, 2015

    Doesn’t this mean she’s beat Britney’s record too. Damn, the slayage! Congrats to her and props to NSYNC for holding on to that record for 15 years. The fact that she can sell like this in the dire state that the industry is currently in is AMAZING!

    • TRAVON AUSTIN November 24, 2015

      Britney had the sales record for one week, one week later Eminem surpasses it, one week after that Nsynch surpassed Eminem’s record. Those 3 weeks in 2000 were insane. Adele is passing all three records in a time with no competition. It’s likely she will have it far longer than 15 years.

      • coolness November 24, 2015

        Yes, I can imagine how crazy it was to track sales only to see these three artists release BLOCKBUSTER after BLOCKBUSTER! So I’m guessing She will have Britney’s record for highest first week sales of all time for a female artist and NYSNC’s record for highest first week sales overall. She’s bodying the industry right now.

  36. shakira stan November 24, 2015

    Beyonce is the queen only on the hives delusional fantasies .The sells charts or tour grosses says otherwise

  37. AnnaliseKeatingsNewWig November 24, 2015

    TIS TEA…
    ___________
    November 13, 2015 at 10:15 am
    AnnaliseKeatingsNewWig says:

    +25
    -2

    Vote
    I’m sure I’ve said this before. She probably signed an exclusivity deal with Tidal and has been avoiding the release date. She’s either delaying it because she hopes Tidal will go out of business and her contract won’t mean anything or she’s hoping it will merge with Apple Music or Spotify.

  38. shakira stan November 24, 2015

    Guess this goes to show you don’t need 18 music videos twerking nakedness and singing filth to sell.Hope the irresponsible mother of one learns

  39. JanStan November 24, 2015

    She’s not only slaying the charts, she’s slaying history. Its insane at a time when no one sells albums. To put it into perspective in 2000, 88 albums sold a million or more. This year? 3 (one of which was released in 2014). And she will most likely smash the best opening week ever and be the first artist to have the best selling album over 3 different years. She already has the biggest selling digital single week ever and is JUST STARTING promotion. She could possibly have the best era in music history (sales and profits). Now if she would just announce her damn tour!

  40. AnnaliseKeatingsNewWig November 24, 2015

    I’m still laughing at the fact that she had to sell RatedR for $3.99/$0.99 on its opening week to save face. Adele is shattering records as we speak, so there’s no hope for Antidepressant. Also screaming at her f*cking CrazyEyes aka TravisScum for hits. Ah MESS!
    ___

    https://youtu.be/6a62WrSJhD4?t=56s

    • What now November 24, 2015

      Talking abt wat Rihanna iz doing n an Adele post… SMDH. The obsession for the Navy’s attn iz REAL.

      • AnnaliseKeatingsNewWig November 24, 2015

        LMAO @ElusiveThot you are a LAMBCHOP not a NAZI, so go take care of your bast*rd chill’ren and don’t worry about me hunTEA. Didn’t you tell us you were a t*****, but you keep talking about ‘topping’ KIII what’s a matter boo boo? Did they deny your vag*na surgery.

  41. Keri Qween November 24, 2015

    When will Beyonce? With no over sexualized music, Adele slayeddd

    • ADC143 November 24, 2015

      Meanwhile Keri’s face is still on a carton of expired milk. That’s how long she’s been gone and disregarded. It’s been like 5 years and counting since she put something out (and that flopped.) She’s been MIA ever since. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s without a record deal today. When will Beyonce? Ha. That’s funny, considering who you stan for. You don’t even know what she’s doing.

      • Tina Lord Roberts November 24, 2015

        No one stans for Keri Hilson. “Keri Qween” is just a troll using her name to anonymously post garbage.

  42. Rosie November 24, 2015

    Doesnt that Honey child thing stan Rihanna? The self drag at it trying to change this into a Bey/whoever stan war when 25 also already outsold Unapologetic everywhere.
    Adele is easily the biggest female artist of this millennium and possibly of all time, the way she is pulling bigger than 90s/early 00s numbers in an era where most albums are lucky to sell 1-2 million worldwide. Wonder how much she would’ve actually sold in the 90s.

    • lolz November 24, 2015

      Sis Cheryl left you something quit dodging her and address her like the typical butch d**** you are

      • Rosie November 24, 2015

        I didn’t see it?
        What am I dodging? Why would I dodge someone who stans a cokehead who can’t even properly release an album outside of the U.K. and Western Europe, let alone can’t even outsell Bombay Bicycle Club anymore in their own country?

  43. Ciah’s Turtle November 24, 2015

    Damn

  44. Casual-T November 24, 2015

    Kudos to Adele. People need to stop comparing Adele to Beyonce and other contemporary artists. The only other arists who somewhat fits in Adele’s category is Taylor Swift, and that’s b/c Adele and TS both have fan bases that include buyers beyond pop and r&b. TS appeals to pop and country buyers. In addition to fans of pop, r&b, and old school soul, ADELE APPEALS TO A LARGE CONTINGENT OF LISTENERS OVER 50, listeners/buyers who are out of reach for most of Adele’s peers in pop.

  45. HailBeysus November 24, 2015

    Kiiiii the navy tries to drag Bey so Hard! Even if they jump behind ADELE’S success they fail lmfao!!!! Hive dragging these pathetic lessers once again lol

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