Why do journalists get assigned to cover topics they know absolutely nothing about?
That Adele’s album was not streamed has nothing to do with why it is or is not on the top of the charts at Pirate Bay. Not streaming it was never likely to drive that many people to pirate it. This is a false dichotomy anyway (or a double-false dichotomy), and is verging into the territory of “not even wrong.”
First, Adele is not interesting to most of the users of sites like The Pirate Bay. That site and file-sharing sites in general are dominated by 90% fairly misogynist men. Adele is a woman — and a woman who sings emotion-laden songs — so therefore icky.
In other words, her album was never as likely to be pirated as others more interesting to that demographic.
Second, Pirate Bay only shows information from trackers. Nearly all clients these days use DHT, which would not show up on Pirate Bay or any other site. Tracking it by going to Pirate Bay and looking at their charts is like sampling how many fish are in the Pacific Ocean by looking in your bathtub.
Hey, journalistic organizations, I know a lot about a lot of things. Send me money and I’ll make you less stupid.
“First, Adele is not interesting to most of the users of sites like The Pirate Bay. That site and file-sharing sites in general are dominated by 90% fairly misogynist men. Adele is a woman — and a woman who sings emotion-laden songs — so therefore icky.”
I think the fact that she’s extremely mainstream is an even bigger factor. The stuff I download is stuff that’s impossible for me to find otherwise.
And…. I don’t get her. Vocally she’s channeling a lot of 1960s and 70s American soul singers who in most regards were better than her (same thing with Amy Winehouse, Duffy and pretty much all the other Brit female vocalists given heavy pushes in the last 10 years or so).
“And…. I don’t get her. Vocally she’s channeling a lot of 1960s and 70s American soul singers who in most regards were better than her”
Agreed — the only song I like of hers is “Best for Last” which showed off her voice in a more restrained manner.
In a just world, Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive would be getting the accolades that Adele receives. Her singing is both more precise and more raw at the same time — something hard to pull off.