Adele’s ‘30’ has been named the biggest selling album of 2021 in the UK. The album was released in Q4 and still came out on top.

Adele’s 30 had a combined chart sales in excess of 600,000 with over half a million (502,000) of those being pure sales (448,000 physical, 53,000 downloads).

Ed Sheeran came in at #2 (Equals), selling more than of 432,000 in 2021.

The UK’s Top Ten Biggest Selling Albums of 2021 is as follows:

01. Adele – ’30’
02. Ed Sheeran – ‘=’
03. ABBA – ‘Voyage’
04. Olivia Rodrigo – ‘Sour’
05. Queen – ‘Greatest Hits’
06. Dua Lipa – ‘Future Nostalgia’
07. Ed Sheeran – ‘÷’
08. Elton John – ‘Diamonds’
09. Fleetwood Mac – ’50 Years: Don’t Stop’
10. Dave – ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’

Adele was the music industry’s big 4th quarter story. She delivered a great album even though “30” only sold 1.4 million copies since its release. Her previous album, “25,” sold 3.8 million in its first week. We are in a different landscape and the new album can’t compete in a 2015 era, that’s except if you’re Morgan Wallen.

Adele’s Vegas show is a big ticket. The pre-sale tickets ranging from $85 To $685 are now being resold with prices ranging from over $1,000 to more than $37,000.

The big winner is Morgan Wallen. The country rising star earned a #1 album in 2021 that sold over 3 million copies. The country boy was cancelled and dropped from awards shows and his agents and managers pretended to drop him but they couldn’t completely distance themselves and walk away from the cash cow. His fans love him and Morgan is sticking around.

For a 2nd year in a row, it looks the Grammys will be postponed again due to covid concerns.

The show was booked at the Crypto.com Arena, CBS bur the Recording Academy are looking at other locations.

The Hollywood Bowl with its outdoor settings, has been rumored as a potential location to hold the show, weather permitting.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that the amount of people allowed to attend New Year’s Eve celebrations at Times Square will be limited to about 15,000 from a usual number of 58,000.

What about the 2023 Grammys? They say the third time is a charm, or maybe not.

I purchased a ticket for hundreds of dollars and I don’t plan on going to the show. There are too many restrictions, variables, and unknowns.

I’m not alone. Many fans who dropped money on tickets aren’t showing up. No-shows at concerts are near 20%, while the UK is nearing 40%.

No shows hurt venues, promoters, and artists because they sell less merchandise and alcohol and they tend to overstaff. Veteran acts have been hit the hardest with significant no-show rates.

The once thriving UK live scene has turned into a ghost town. Artists have resorted to massive guests just to get people to show up

“You always had people that didn’t turn up,” said artist manager Graeme Stewart. “It was around 5% normally, but you’re getting as much as 40% no-shows for some gigs now. It’s an enormous problem, and it’s happening for anything that’s ticketed.”

In an era where artist are surrendering their masters and publishing, we now have Bruce Springsteen giving up his master recording and publishing rights to Sony for a price of $500 million.

Sony now owns all of his 20 studio albums, as well as Born To Run, The River and Born In The USA.

Springsteen’s music generated about $15m in revenue last year. Rob Stringer, CEO of Sony Music, said the company spent $1.4 billion in acquisitions in the previous six months.

Springsteen has been with Columbia Records since the beginning of his career and has long controlled the rights to his recordings.

Legendary songwriter Diane Warren says: “It’s something I would never do (selling songs). If they’re paying you 20 times what your catalog is worth, I could see why people would do it, especially if they need the money. I don’t need the money. “This is my soul and my soul wouldn’t be for sale at any price.”