BBC News Review: Adele gets Spotify to change album shuffle 2022

May 19, 2022



Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist’s own order. The singer tweeted: “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. “Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.” The streaming service replied “anything for you”. A statement later hailed their “new premium feature… to make play the default button on all albums”.

Rob and Neil discuss this news story and teach you some related vocabulary so you can talk about it too.

Related stories:
6 Minute English: Singing in tune https://youtu.be/ojgogr0St9g
English Class: Phrasal verbs https://youtu.be/Q7HBdzgvmIs

Video chapters:
0:00​​​​​​​​​​ – Introduction
0:33 – Story
1:50 – Headline 1: The Times: Adele persuades Spotify to remove shuffle as default option on albums
5:00 – Headline 2: Bangkok Post: Spotify bows to Adele, drops ‘shuffle’ as album song-playing default
7:35 – Headline 3: NPR: Adele asked Spotify to remove the default shuffle button for albums, and they obliged
10:00 – Language summary

Key words and phrases:
default
standard; first option
• I set my old phone to the default factory settings before I sold it.
• The company defaulted on its payments and was closed down.

bows to
agrees to someone’s demands
• The café bowed to public pressure to serve organic milk in its coffee.
• He had to bow to the demands of his audience and sing again.

obliged
agreed or forced (to do something)
• He wasn’t keen but when he received the wedding invitation he felt obliged to attend.
• She asked for a room with a view and the hotel obliged.

To download the audio and a transcript and test your understanding, go to our website:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview/unit-21/session-221

[Cover: Getty Images]

#bbclearningenglish #newsreview #adele #30 #spotify #news

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33 Comments
  1. Reply
    BBC Learning English May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    We hope you found this useful! Do you enjoy programmes about music? Check out this episode of 6 Minute English about grime: https://youtu.be/l31dAwfYjhI

  2. Reply
    Roger Fredriksson May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Adele Hitler. The fascist telling us what to think , feel and do.

  3. 1. Whenever I purchase a new smartphone, I always customise the default settings of it to be more aesthetic in the way I love.
    In high school, I was the monitor of my class by default.
    He defaulted on calling me again and I was mad about him
    2. I asked her for handing me over the money in her pocket and she bowed to.
    3. She didn't need to feel obliged to go to that party with her friends. She loved that and joined without me.

  4. Reply
    Tanmay Jamkhedkar May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    I feel much obliged for the wonderful teaching sessions.

  5. Much obliged to your news review!

  6. Reply
    Fernando Renato Tovar Rebolledo May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Very interesantly yor topic

  7. Reply
    Brahim Dibbimahamat May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    BBC learning English is one of best Chanel which I improve my language , Adel i want so much his explanation

  8. A lot of people misunderstood this Spotify thingy and ranted how arrogant Adele was for asking Spotify to remove it as the default option. They thought the shuffle button was removed for good. What crazy people.

  9. Thank you BBC ❤️

  10. i don't like their teeth 🙁

  11. I cried at the and! it was a such beautiful lesson.

  12. I am much obliged to BBC learning coz I have learned a lot n still learning from it.

  13. adele is a legend.

  14. Reply
    Kim Sejeong (김세정) Kpop May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    BBC is the best learning channel. Great contents, more educational and knowledgeable words and contents contain . They are so meticulous and detailed, really helpful for learners. Why BBC's programs are really sounding excellent.Thank you BBC. 🥰

  15. always love hearing Neil and Rob teaching English. MUCH obliged to BBC.

  16. So I can say "obliged" as a way to say "thank you"? This is new for me. I was never told about that. And it's very similar to the standard way of saying thank you in portuguese : obrigado, muito obrigado, obrigada, muito obrigada. In portuguese adjectives usually has gender. So, much obliged for the explanation. Bye bye…

  17. Reply
    СТАЛИН ИОСИФ May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    At USSR, workers have proven that they can live without the rich.

    But mind you, not a single rich man has proved that he can live without workers…

  18. We bow as we have grateful feelings or show the politeness.

  19. Reply
    God's own Country cook Stephen May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Praise the lord all country tree World war stop Israel country protect

  20. Reply
    Александр Ларрива May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Ничего не понимаю😅

  21. @7:08: I wonder why we use " sing again" because I think of " sings again" or " sang again" in this case. can anyone help me explain this?

  22. Hi! we couldn´t open the page… What´s wrong??

  23. Where is Catherine? I haven't seen her for a while.

  24. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  25. Reply
    Brigitte saint-pé May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Hello Everyone, Hello to both of you
    I don't understand the meaning of " they obliged" in the sentence " Adele asked Spotify to remove the default shuffle button for albums and they obliged.
    I would have said, and " they agreed" instead of " obliged"…or, (but it would be a bit weird in this case), and " they have been or were obliged to agree. ".
    I thought that the verb oblige called for a verb after it. I oblige someone to do something or called for a passive voice ..I am obliged to do something. Is this way of using this verb usual?
    In this case, I assume it means : They try to satisfy, to make someone grateful, isn't it? in France, when someone makes a favor to someone else , the recipient thanks the giver and replies : I am your obliged. But it's old fashioned

  26. Miss you Neil

  27. Thanks Neil and Rob for this wonderful explanation!
    I am much obliged!

  28. Feel very obliged towards the great programs that you guys make, helping us to learn English!

  29. Hello neel sir 😊

  30. Interesting. Much obliged is what we say in Portuguese as thank you. We say (muito) obrigado (a).

  31. Hello

  32. Reply
    lyrics translate Azerbaijan May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Excellent video guys.. appreciate it..today I have learnt new things through you.. 🙂

  33. Reply
    Πετρος Νικου May 19, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    Shuffle default bows to

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