Adele to Apple: Sponsor my tour and stock my CD in your stores

With the return of Adele the biggest thing in recorded music this year, her as-yet-unconfirmed return to touring has seen huge figures being bandied about.

The New York Post reports that her US booking agency WME (William Morris Endeavor) has approached Apple to sponsor her world tour for US$30 million. That is ten times what other superstar tours get.

At the same time, Team Adele also pitched to Apple to stock her 25 album in its stores when it drops on November 20.

Early indications are that Apple has turned down the request. It is, after all, one of the biggest sellers of downloads. – and most Apple laptops don’t have CD drives. 

Some music industry analysts say Team Adele is being too ambitious or naive. A source told the Post, “Her team needs to be more realistic about an artist who doesn’t have much of a history of working with corporate partners."

The pitch for a $30 million sponsorship deal is not surprising, though, given how fans have taken to her Hello single. The ballad is on track to become the most downloaded single in history. It shot to #1 on iTunes in 100 countries. Spotify reported 22 million plays on its platform

The video has had 93 million YouTube views, 50 million in the first 48 hours alone. In one hour, it was watched by 1.6 million fans.

As TMN already reported, it’s now also Vevo’s most viewed video after 27.7 million in 24 hours. It sold an estimated 450,000 downloads in two days in America.

It’s also on target to become the fastest selling single in the UK for 2015, notching up 165,000 combined sales and streams in this week’s midway mark. The figure includes 156,000 downloads in its first three days, or 52,000 each day.

Based on global pre-orders, 25 is expected to go to #1 in 98 countries.

World dates are being pitched to promoters Live Nation and AEG. Speculation is she will announce European dates in the next few weeks.

The fear is that she cancelled many dates on her first world tour due to exhaustion.