Adele’s 25 is the best-selling album of the year

The album 25 was originally expected to sell more than 1 million units in North America in its first week, as estimated by Billboard magazine.

The album “25” is the follow up to her 2011 breakout album “21” which won multiple Grammys including Album of the Year and had sales of more than 11 million.

“Purpose” sold 522,000 copies in its first week, a sales record that Adele crushed a few days later with behemoth sales of her own comeback record.

Adele fans who are also users of streaming music services like Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Spotify, among others, were obviously disappointed that the singer chose to snub those services for her new album. Having blocked the record from streaming services such as Spotify, fans could only get hold of “25” by purchasing the physical album instead of merely streaming it. Album purchases signify a more steady profit for the artist.

By contrast, in 2000, that same ‘N Sync album, “No Strings Attached”, sold 9.9 million copies and Eminem’s “Slim” was behind that with 7.92 million.

And 25 would be the fastest-selling album since at least 1991, when Nielsen Music started to track weekly music sales in a methodical way. Labels don’t have a say in this type of licensing; so Adele’s new album, like Taylor Swift’s 1989 previous year, still ends up streaming on Pandora.

Adele’s latest achievement comes as she announces European tour dates in 2016, which includes shows in Belfast, Manchester, London, Glasgow and Birmingham.

Adele’s new album has already sold 2,433,000 albums just three days after its release, Billboard reported. Industry experts predict the album will sell 3 million copies in its first week alone.

Adele’s universal appeal reaches people who never buy music to purchase her albums – her sheer omnipresence convinces even the most reluctant consumers to give her a chance.