The singer got Spotify to remove the shuffle button from album pages
Artists have a lot of sway when it comes to streaming music services, but Adele may have more sway than the majority. Spotify has disabled the shuffle button from all album pages, according to BBC News, after Adele urged the business to make the change in time for the release of 30. In a follow-up tweet, the singer added that albums should be listened to “how [artists] intended” since they convey “a story.”
You may still use the controls for individual tracks to shuffle an album. This essentially adds an extra step to the process and forces you to pick a first track. Apple Music, for example, still allows you to press a “shuffle” button on an album page.
There’s no denying that some albums, such as 30, should be listened to in order. It crafts a story around a pivotal moment in Adele’s life. Critics, on the other hand, have expressed reservations about deleting a feature to appease an artist. It’s one thing to encourage listening to songs in a certain order; it’s quite another to take control of that order away from listeners — and what about musicians who are fine with shuffle play?
At the very least, Spotify has an incentive to make adjustments like these. Adele’s lead single, “Easy On Me,” shattered the previous single-day Spotify streaming record, which was held by K-pop megagroup BTS. While Spotify hasn’t explained why, it’s unlikely that the firm wants to offend one of its most popular singers and risk losing users.
