Streaming or not, Adele's '25' expected to be monster hit

Adele's album "25" was released worldwide on Friday, and even though it will not be on streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer, industry analysts are expecting it to be the hit of the year.

Following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift, who withheld her album "1989" from Spotify because she did not want it streamed for free, Adele's follow-up to her 2011 hit album "21," which sold 30 million copies worldwide and won six Grammys, is available for download or as a CD, but not for streaming.

Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer, three of the main streamers, said on Thursday they would not carry it, though they hoped that would change.

"My own personal view is that record is so massive it wouldn't make any difference" if it were available for streaming or not, industry analyst Keith Jopling told Reuters.

In a message on her Twitter feed on Friday, Adele did not mention the decision not to stream the album but said she hoped fans would enjoy the music.

"This feels such a long time coming...I am so overwhelmed and grateful to be able to even put another record out," the singer said.

"The last month has been a whirlwind. It's literally taken my breath away. I hope you enjoy the record as much as I enjoyed making it for you," she added.

"Hello," the first single from the album, released at the end of October, has logged more than 400 million plays on YouTube and topped the US charts for the past three weeks.

Trade publication Billboard, citing unidentified sources, said Columbia Records will ship 3.6 million physical copies of the new album in the United States, which could be the largest number of new release CDs shipped in the past decade.

Singer and Oscar telecast performer Adele, nominated for the song ''Skyfall'' from the James Bond film ''Skyfall,'' arrives at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013. Reuters

Adele, who took a career break to have her first child, says in a BBC television interview to be aired on Friday that the success of "21" was daunting, but she was determined to make a comeback.

"I just got really worried that I was never going to make anything that anyone liked again," she says, according to quotes from the interview posted on the BBC website.

"I started to wonder if '21,' being so successful, was enough for everyone," she says. "But I realised it wasn't enough for me. So, sorry, I'm here to make your ears bleed again."

Early indications are she need not have worried. In addition to "Hello" topping the US charts, advance sales of "25" have made it the best-selling album on Amazon.com's British and US sites, according to the retailer.

"I think the odds are in favour of '25' being a huge success because there's so much anticipation," British-based music industry consultant Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research said.

Critical reaction from music journalists who had access to advance copies suggest fans won't be disappointed but perhaps "25" will not be the seminal experience "21" was for listeners.

Alexis Petridis, writing in the Guardian, said the album's success was a foregone conclusion, but its content was patchy.

"'Hello' is a pretty bulletproof bit of songwriting, and 'All I Ask' sounds appealingly like the showstopping ballad from a hugely successful Broadway musical. Often, though, it slinks unremarkably into the middle of the road," he said.