The future of Adele's career

[Deleted]

Despite Adele's much deserved success in the past year, I have been wondering whether or not this is all a fluke. Is she another Alanis Morissette who recorded a massively successful album only to be unable to sustain a lengthy career as a commercial artist or is she really going to have a career that resembles that of other vocal divas like Whitney, Mariah, and Celine?

So what do people think?

[Deleted]

ADELE is the Susan Boyle of the now.

[Rurry]

Even if she falls out of the mainstream pop eye, I think she'll continue to have a huge following and an immensely successful career. She has a huge amount of talent and is extremely respected by both the public and the industry - I think moreso than Alanis, but I wasn't around during Alanis's prime so I could be wrong.

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

I think it might be too soon to call it. I think her next album will be the one to be a deciding factor in that.

Feb 12, 2012 23:51:33 GMT -5 Rurry said:

Even if she falls out of the mainstream pop eye, I think she'll continue to have a huge following and an immensely successful career. She has a huge amount of talent and is extremely respected by both the public and the industry - I think moreso than Alanis, but I wasn't around during Alanis's prime so I could be wrong.

Technically, Jagged Little Pill was the album that propelled Alanis to global success (and in the U.S.). She had released several other albums in Canada prior to that one. She was a Debbie Gibson-esque popstar before she embraced her angst-ridden Rock/Pop music.

[Deleted]

I don't see why she couldn't have a long lasting and successful career. But she will have to keep her sound current (as current as they type of music she does will allow). If she just rehashes the same stuff over and over people will get tired of it.

[out of reach]

There is already kind of a pattern. The Grammys/ptb love to have a whitish chick with soulful voice every few years to promote. See Joss Stone/Norah Jones. They got Grammy's and big albums and faded away from the mainstream eye even though they still release music. I anticipate that Adele will have a moderate follow up and then disappear by the album after that as the next "white chick" with soulful voice comes along.

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2012 0:56:00 GMT -5 out of reach said:

There is already kind of a pattern. The Grammys/ptb love to have a whitish chick with soulful voice every few years to promote. See Joss Stone/Norah Jones. They got Grammy's and big albums and faded away from the mainstream eye even though they still release music. I anticipate that Adele will have a moderate follow up and then disappear by the album after that as the next "white chick" with soulful voice comes along.

Adele has had WAY more success than them. Norah never had a big hit single and Joss never had a hit single or album.

[out of reach]

Feb 13, 2012 0:57:04 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

Feb 13, 2012 0:56:00 GMT -5 out of reach said:

There is already kind of a pattern. The Grammys/ptb love to have a whitish chick with soulful voice every few years to promote. See Joss Stone/Norah Jones. They got Grammy's and big albums and faded away from the mainstream eye even though they still release music. I anticipate that Adele will have a moderate follow up and then disappear by the album after that as the next "white chick" with soulful voice comes along.

Adele has had WAY more success than them. Norah never had a big hit single and Joss never had a hit single or album.

Both had multi-platinum worldwide albums not sure what you are talking about. Maybe they didn't reach Adele's height in terms of singles but this is the age of the single. Norah's album sold what 20 million copies.

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2012 0:59:25 GMT -5 out of reach said:

Feb 13, 2012 0:57:04 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

Adele has had WAY more success than them. Norah never had a big hit single and Joss never had a hit single or album.

Both had multi-platinum worldwide albums not sure what you are talking about. Maybe they didn't reach Adele's height in terms of singles but this is the age of the single. Norah's album sold what 20 million copies.

There's no such thing as a multi-platinum worldwide album. Each country has it's own certification system.

The Grammys are a US Award show. Why are you talking about the Grammys but then shifting to worldwide sales? Joss Stone has one Platinum album in the US and no hit singles.

Norah Jones has a Diamond album in the US, that came out a decade ago when albums were selling much better than they were. Adele is racing toward a Diamond certification herself and she has 3 #1 singles.

There is NO comparison. Adele has been WAY more successful than both of them in the US. I don't even know how anyone could think Joss Stone was more successful than Adele. WHAT?!

[Deleted]

Are we forgetting "19"...no it wasn't as huge as "21" but the album itself sold platinum and was a world wide hit, it's not like she wasn't at least semi-popular before(she herself already scored two grammys). But who know's...she could slowly drift away, but it won't be anytime soon.

No she won't have another "21" era, but if you think she's going to fall of the face of the planet in the next 5 years.....*insert Beyonce nope gif*

Now let us all bask in the Adele reign! The voice, the lyrics, the Adele <3

[out of reach]

I never said Joss was more successful but someone who fills the same category artist who had a big album with critical/commercial success. It doesn't matter how much bigger an era Adele is having we both mentioned that these are different times but a pattern is there nonetheless of these type of artists. Once Adele's marketing machine is gone, so will the radio airplay and big sales in followup albums. Amy Winehouse is another example, although she had other issues befall her.

[Deleted]

I kind of think people are going to get sick of her after this era is over. I'm starting to see some backlash already...

[Gravity.]

My Facebook blew up with Adele praise tonight. As long as she keeps doing what she does best, she'll be fine. Even if she never has another big hit, I'm pretty sure she'll have a big following.

[allow that]

I wouldn't be worried about blacklash. Every singer at the top gets it.

I definitely think this era will be Adele's biggest. Where do you go from here? Usher couldn't top Confessions but he's still very successful. I kind of see Adele being the same- she'll still sell albums (probably more than post-Confessions Usher) and she'll still get a few more hits (probably less than post-Confessions Usher). It's really difficult to compare her to anyone else though. Unlike Alanis, she's got a huge vocal talent- so her style is a bit more classic. Unlike Celine, Mariah, and Whitney, she's got the singer-songwriter thing going for her. This helps her get airplay at places like Alternative and AAA that Celine would never be able to touch. Unlike Norah, her songs are more commercially viable.

The thing is in order to sustain radio success, she'll have to evolve as an artist. She can't keep putting out these sad ballads. Having said that, I think some of her hits on 19 sound different enough from the 21 singles.

I also think 19 is her secret little weapon. It's selling amazingly well right now. When Alanis was out, Jagged Little Pill was her debut and her earlier material was vastly different and basically unknown to the public. With Adele, people can buy 19 and see she's not a one album artist and that her first album was just as good, so it kind of erases the one album fluke notion (in terms of quality) before she even has to put out a follow-up.

[Verisimilitude]

Feb 13, 2012 1:38:23 GMT -5 allow that said:

Unlike Mariah, she's got the singer-songwriter thing going for her.

Come again?

[allow that]

Feb 13, 2012 1:41:57 GMT -5 Verisimilitude said:

Feb 13, 2012 1:38:23 GMT -5 allow that said:

Unlike Mariah, she's got the singer-songwriter thing going for her.

Come again?

Yes I know Mariah writes a lot of her own material, but I'm also pretty sure that you know what I mean.

[Deleted]

There has been such a lack of similar artists experiencing this kind of success, especially in recent years. The closest comparison I can even think of is Carole King's Tapestry and that was released 40 years before 21.

[Verisimilitude]

Lauryn Hill - "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill"?

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2012 1:56:34 GMT -5 Verisimilitude said:

Lauryn Hill - "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill"?

But she was a hip-hop/R&B artist not an adult contemporary pop singer-songwriter and the singles from that album didn't become major CHR/Pop hits.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

There's only so long she can sustain this type of fame and success. I think 21 will definitely be her career peak. Not that people will get "bored" of her but I think the novelty of being all about the voice will wear off for the majority of listeners by the time her next album rolls around. If she doesn't switch it up in some way to make it interesting it won't be so impressive anymore, especially of it's another breakup album or otherwise some sort of "I'm sad" or "feel bad for me" record.
But being more adult contemporary than anything else, she'll have a huge buying audience so if the pop audience wanes and pop radio moves on, her sales will remain decent I think. Think Taylor swift or nickelback consistency.

[bornfearless2000]

This is very tricky.

People adore Adele more than any artist i've ever seen.

I think she will keep smashing.

[spooky21]

Feb 13, 2012 1:43:27 GMT -5 allow that said:

Feb 13, 2012 1:41:57 GMT -5 Verisimilitude said:

Come again?

Yes I know Mariah writes a lot of her own material, but I'm also pretty sure that you know what I mean.

But as a singer/songwriter Mariah also gets play on other formats (hip hop/Rnb, UAC, etc) that Adele will never get played on it is a null point including her in that group.

[musictomyeyes]

Adele seems to enjoy such widespread love that I can't imagine that her next album won't do at least reasonably well. Maybe an Alanis comparison would be apt: "Jagged Little Pill" was to "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" as "21" will be to "(23?)"

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2012 1:52:32 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

There has been such a lack of similar artists experiencing this kind of success, especially in recent years. The closest comparison I can even think of is Carole King's Tapestry and that was released 40 years before 21.

If you allow for males, Christopher Cross had this type of success around 1980 or so; best selling albums, hit pop singles etc.

Where is he today?

Fame can be fleeting.

[Deleted]

I expect her to have lasting success; although I'd be perfectly happy with her fading away after this.

[Au$tin]

She'll do just fine. 21 is probably the high point in her career, but she'll continue to have much success. Trust me, before very long her name will be up there with the likes of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Cher, Celine Dion, etc.

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2012 7:25:03 GMT -5 spooky21 said:

Feb 13, 2012 1:43:27 GMT -5 allow that said:

Yes I know Mariah writes a lot of her own material, but I'm also pretty sure that you know what I mean.

But as a singer/songwriter Mariah also gets play on other formats (hip hop/Rnb, UAC, etc) that Adele will never get played on it is a null point including her in that group.

I believe his point is simply that Mariah is generally not perceived as a singer-songwriter, which is unfortunately true. It annoys me but outside of her fanbase and people on music boards (where her fans will be quick to correct someone and point it out) a lot of people either don't know she is a writer or don't really think much of her contribution to her songs. Her labels never really played up that aspect when marketing her.

As far as Adele, she'll have a career for as long as she wants one and I'm sure she'll always be an awards darling. But I would expect a career most similar to Norah's (huge and unexpected album success followed by albums that sell much less, but still do respectably well for whatever the sales climate is at the time). Norah has released four solo studio albums and they are, in order: 10x platinum, 5x platinum, 2x platinum, and 1x platinum. Norah typically receives minimal promotion. For the type of artist she is and the fact that she doesn't necessarily care for being the hugest star in the world, this is not a problem. Other than probably continuing to have greater singles success than Norah ever had, I see Adele's commercial trajectory being much similar to that.

The era of the ever-dominating superstar (Michael, Janet, Madonna, Whitney, Mariah, Celine) is over as far as I can tell. I just don't see the industry every producing someone who consistently dominates in album sales and/or singles over the course of a decade or more like that ever again.

[Deleted]

I just don't see her 15 minutes lasting much longer stateside, at least not to this degree. She'll always be one for critical acclaim, she'll certainly keep moving albums, but her choice in aesthetic simply doesn't fit with the current state of pop. Her recent breakout was almost assuredly a direct result of her initial success at the Grammys; your average radio buff simply hopped on her dick because they felt they were supposed to. That isn't to say they didn't like the music, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if future single releases after 21 were to get lost in the shuffle of everything else yet to come. I think that's what will hinder her from seeing success like Whitney and Mariah.

I'm not at all familiar with Norah Jones because I couldn't care less for her, but that argument appeals to me so I'm going with that.

[#LisaRinna]

I see her as the new Alanis, honestly.

[Deleted]

This sums up my feelings...