NEWS
Adele
CBSSpotify users listening to Adele’s 30 will hear the album as the singer intended after the streaming service promised to remove the default shuffle feature from the LP, as per Adele’s request.
“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,” Adele tweeted Saturday night.
“Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.”
Spotify tweeted back, “Anything for you.” The streaming service, controversially, long allowed for shuffling to be the default playback option for albums, as opposed to the artists’ own curated track order.
(As of writing, the shuffle function — two intersecting arrows — still appeared, albeit much smaller, on the 30 page on Spotify, allowing users to randomize the track list. However, some users on social media reported that the shuffle option had been eliminated for them on the album page.)
In a statement Sunday, Spotify confirmed the change. “As Adele mentioned, we are excited to share that we have begun rolling out a new Premium feature that has long been requested by both users and artists to make play the default button on all albums,” the streaming service said. “For those users still wishing to shuffle an album, they can go to the Now Playing View and select the shuffle toggle. As always, we will continue to iterate our products and features to create the best experiences for both artists and their fans.”
30, Adele’s “best album yet,” arrived on Friday. In addition to streaming, the LP is available in a variety of formats and exclusive editions.
Adele also appears on the cover of current issue of Rolling Stone, and revealed she has a secret TikTok account and dreams of singing the hook on a hip-hop track.
Dave Mustaine has chosen to bring Megadeth to an end after completing one final tour due to ongoing health challenges.
The band plans to step away next year once they wrap up their farewell run and release their final album. Frontman Dave, 64, has now shared that he reached this decision because arthritis and issues with his back have left him “unable to give a hundred per cent every night”.
Speaking on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Dave said, “It had been building up for a long time, just physical things happening with my hands … My hands were starting to fail me.
“And there were other difficulties tied to everything going on with my neck and my trunk. That whole area has arthritis and some bulging discs.
“I have a fractured lumbar bone. And of course, my back has been fused near my shoulders and neck. There is just a lot going on …
“I always said that when the time came where I could no longer give a hundred per cent each night, that would be the moment I would start thinking about slowing down.”
He continued by sharing that the choice became clear after the band completed recording their final self-titled project.
Dave explained, “It was not that I couldn’t give a hundred per cent, because we finished the album and I feel we did well with it, but while we were working I had a moment where I told my manager … ‘I am not sure how much longer I can continue. My hands are really hurting.’
“I did not intend to set things in motion. I was just talking, but it led to conversations with the band, then taking time to reflect, speaking with my family, and praying about it.
“And the answer was obvious to me that by the time the album was finished, I would know how it would perform. If it does really well, I can still deliver one final strong tour.
“And the idea of a farewell feels connected to that. We have certain shows we want to play so we can say goodbye to the people who have supported us.”
Dave added, “We are an American band, but we perform all over the world. We are not weekend performers like some country acts in the States. We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to say goodbye the right way.”
The band’s seventeenth studio album, Megadeth, will arrive in January, and their This Was Our Life tour begins in Canada in February.
