# What can the music industry learn from Adele? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637 "2015-12-06T18:30:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/21 "2015-12-07T21:01:16Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I’m mom-aged and would much rather listen to Franz Ferdinand, Foster the People, or some old punk than Adele. And I wouldn’t mind listening to both. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/22 "2015-12-07T21:07:16Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > In terms of the ‘industry dying’ and such I want to throw a data point out there. > > Adele’s causing all sorts of wow at 3.3 million copies. Good for her and such. > > But previously, selling 3.3 million copies was nice but not a real miracle. > > Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill moved 15 million copies. > Brittany Spears Oops…I did it again moved 10 million copies. > Norah Jones Come Away With Me moved 11 million copies. > > These are the things that indicate troubles in the industry vis-a-vis album sales. Standards have changed so much that 3.3 million copies gets a huge write up when it wouldn’t crack the top 100 of all time. The fine, but it’s not a show stopper. > > Hell, another indicator comes from Wiki’s list of [best US sales of albums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_in_the_United_States). Adele’s prior album = 11MM sold - is the only one from the last 10 years on the list. Prior to that it’s Usher in 2004 with 10MM. Like Jophiel pointed out, it’s a big difference comparing albums that have been out for years compared to one that just came out a few weeks ago. Check back in a few months and 25 will have sold a lot more than just the 3 million copies it’s sold so far. > [@gaffa](#): > > All true, but we’re not talking about people who constantly seek out and purchase new music. These people can buy millions of albums, but they only buy one or two every year. There is plenty of great music these folks would love, like the last album by _The Mavericks_, but these consumers need to have music deliberately sold to them - they don’t seek it out. I agree with this. There are definitely some other musicians in Adele’s vein that could be pushed with the right marketing team. Then that buyer who buys two albums a year, could buy one more album. But no matter how the music industry changes, or what musicians are found and promoted, nothing is going to change that one or two albums a year person into a 10 or 20 albums a year person. Some people just aren’t as into music. Or their tastes have solidified, and so they are happy enough listening to their old Alanis Morrisette albums and aren’t looking for new music. Or they kept up with music when they were younger because it’s how you stay cool, but don’t care about that as much past a certain point. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/23 "2015-12-07T21:17:35Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It’s a figure of speech. It’s a figure of speech that means something very much opposed to what Adele actually is. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/24 "2015-12-09T18:21:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Flavor of the month? Adele has been a star for six years. She won a Grammy for _19_, which was released in January 2008, so actually almost exactly 8 years now. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/25 "2015-12-09T18:30:49Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Adele is generic in the same way that Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, John Mayer, Passenger, Lana Del Ray and Snore-a Jones are generic. What way is that? (I’m assuming from your Nora Jones name that you don’t hold these artists in high regard) > [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I’m amazed that people are still buying that. I’m guessing a large amount of Jagged Little Pill sales from the last decade are 90’s buyers repurchasing it digitally. Perhaps spurred by the little bit of extra press the 20th year anniversary got. I’d be surprised if a significant number of first time buyers are in that club. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/26 "2015-12-09T18:35:37Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I wouldn’t call Adele “generic”. At least not in the same way that Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Iggy Azalea, Charlie XCX, and Ariana Grande are generic. That is to say, some marketing exec somewhere decided “this girl has a look we want and a sound that’s within the range that we can put through our autotuner to make us millions”. I wouldn’t say that about Gwen Stefani or Charli XCX. They’re superstars now, but they succeeded through hard work, talent, and persistence. Both of them struggled for years before making it. And neither of them is known for autotune. Charli XCX had two hard commercial flops before succeeding, which is two more than a marketing exec would have stuck around for. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/27 "2015-12-09T18:41:42Z")
Adele is the most successful of the generic crop of British MOR “blue eyed soul” songstresses that came in the wake of the late Amy Winehouse. I think key to its success is the fact that Adele appeals to people over 30 who are still in the habit of buying the occasional CD or DVD, especially as a birthday/christmas present. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/28 "2015-12-09T18:43:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Adele is generic in the same way that Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, John Mayer, Passenger, Lana Del Ray and Snore-a Jones are generic. I’m not entirely sure that ANYONE would consider Lana Del Ray to be ‘generic’. I mean a massive part of her appeal is that there is no one like her out there in mainstream music. Amy Winehouse’s sound was also fairly different than the norm when she was popular. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/29 "2015-12-09T18:45:03Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I wouldn’t say that about Gwen Stefani or Charli XCX. They’re superstars now, but they succeeded through hard work, talent, and persistence. Both of them struggled for years before making it. And neither of them is known for autotune. Charli XCX had two hard commercial flops before succeeding, which is two more than a marketing exec would have stuck around for. Similar applies to Taylor Swift. She succeeded through her own hard work and songwriting abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/30 "2015-12-09T18:45:25Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Adele is the most successful of the generic crop of British MOR “blue eyed soul” songstresses that came in the wake of the late Amy Winehouse. I’m not sure what the word ‘generic’ means. Is there any successful musical artist I couldn’t apply the word to? I suspect when people say ‘generic’ they mean she sings well, like all those other successful musical artists. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/31 "2015-12-09T18:50:38Z")
I’d say that the music industry’s near-comatose condition has a lot to do with Adele’s huge success. Rock music has been fading for years, and now hip-hop is starting to fade as well, but so far nothing is coming up to replace them. The result for Adele is, she really doesn’t have a lot of competition. Years ago, she’d still be a respectible success, but there would be so many other top-notch choices that she wouldn’t be the huge success she is. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/32 "2015-12-09T18:53:20Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I’m not sure what the word ‘generic’ means. Is there any successful musical artist I couldn’t apply the word to? Plenty of artists aren’t considered generic as, in their time, there was no-one similar or comparable. In Adele’s case there are several other artists that have enjoyed popularity with similar origins.styles that she can be compared to, Duffy, aforementioned Amy Winehouse, Pixie Lott, and lots of others who are nowhere near as successful. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/33 "2015-12-09T19:04:32Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’m guessing a large amount of Jagged Little Pill sales from the last decade are 90’s buyers repurchasing it digitally. Perhaps spurred by the little bit of extra press the 20th year anniversary got. I’d be surprised if a significant number of first time buyers are in that club. I suspect a sizeable fraction of all music purchases have always been spurred by changing formats. People bought records, then a few decades later they bought cassettes of those same records. Then they bought CDs of those same cassettes. And now they’re buying digital versions of those same CDs. (Along the way, some people got sidetracked into 8-tracks, minidisks, and other failed formats, adding even more sales of the same songs.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/34 "2015-12-09T19:05:08Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Plenty of artists aren’t considered generic as, in their time, there was no-one similar or comparable. In Adele’s case there are several other artists that have enjoyed popularity with similar origins.styles that she can be compared to, Duffy, aforementioned Amy Winehouse, Pixie Lott, and lots of others who are nowhere near as successful. I can’t think of any musical artist for whom I couldn’t find similar-sounding musical artists (except maybe Captain Beefheart, who I don’t really enjoy listening to). In fact we have a word for the similarity: Genre. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/35 "2015-12-09T19:52:47Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I’m not sure what the word ‘generic’ means. Is there any successful musical artist I couldn’t apply the word to? > > I suspect when people say ‘generic’ they mean she sings well, like all those other successful musical artists. That’s kind of how I feel. I’m ambivalent towards the music of Taylor Swift, Adele or Gwen Stefani but I can recognize them at a listen, even if it’s a new song. I figure anyone I can musically pick out of a crowd can’t be “generic”. I could pick out some of the others listed as well but I listen to them intentionally. On the other hand, play me a random song by Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato or one of the other similar songbirds from their genre and I wouldn’t break random chance in matching artist to song. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/36 "2015-12-09T21:41:21Z")
I always took “generic” to be closer to its meaning in medicine. I take it to mean a copy that’s the same as everyone else in the genre, with nothing different to set them apart. Like when I’ve heard of people talk about a generic Taylor Swift album–they mean it could have just as easily been done by someone else with no decrease in quality. I would not apply it to Adele. She doesn’t quite sound like anyone out there today. And that’s not even a compliment: I don’t really like her voice. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/37 "2015-12-09T23:06:05Z")
There’s a ton of pretty young female singers out there trying and wishing to be the next Taylor Swift. None of them have Swift’s sack of awards and cash. There’s a reason for that. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/38 "2015-12-09T23:13:46Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Adele’s album is being bought by people who are not regular CD buyers. I’m sure the last album some of these folks bought was either something my Taylor Swift or Adele’s _last_ album. It’s a unicorn. This was also true for that Hootie & The Blowfish album that broke sales records all over the world in the mid 1990s. “Cracked Rear View”, I think it was called. Record store clerks all over told the same story over and over again, and I’m going to use an obsolete word, but keep in mind that it’s also being used with the greatest respect. When they opened up the store, there would often be elderly people, often couples, who had been walking at the mall in the early mornings, and they would say, “We just got back from visiting our grandchildren, and they like this really good colored singer named Hootie. Do you have any of his records?” 🆒 I got it a couple years later, secondhand, and IMNSHO the songs on the radio were good and rest of it was just kind of there. ETA: Also, Adele can actually sing and does not need Auto Tune. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637/39 "2015-12-09T23:49:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > This was also true for that Hootie & The Blowfish album that broke sales records all over the world in the mid 1990s. “Cracked Rear View”, I think it was called. I guess having the #1 album in the US, Canada and New Zealand is _sorta_ all over the world, but I think you are overstating the popularity a bit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-adele/739637.md?page=1)