Adele dropped her long-awaited fourth album 30 this weekend. But she did more than that: She was able to convince Spotify to alter one of its most controversial features. The music streamer announced they would remove their default shuffle option from albums, which now allows users to listen to in their intended order.
This was the only request I had in our ever changing industry! We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening
https://t.co/XWlykhqxAy
— Adele (@Adele) November 21, 2021
“This was the only request I had in our ever changing industry!” Adele had written before the change was made. “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.” In response, Spotify’s Twitter account replied, “Anything for you.”
A spokesperson for Spotify explained their decision to Billboard. “As Adele mentioned, we are excited to share that we have begun rolling out a new Premium feature that has been long requested by both users and artists to make play the default button on all albums,” they said. Those who want to shuffle an album will now have to go to the “Now Playing” window and press the shuffle option. “As always, we will continue to iterate our products and features to create the best experiences for both artists and their fans,” they added.
30 is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.