The Secrets to Adele’s Success
阿黛尔的成功秘诀
By Alan Cross
文/艾伦·克罗斯
译/赵晨辉
Adele, the most famous and successful mononymous1 person in music since Prince2, is having yet another moment.
继普林斯之后，阿黛尔是歌坛最著名、最成功的歌手，单单提起“阿黛尔”这个名字，人们就知道是谁，现在她再次步入人生巅峰。
Her 30 album, released in November 2021, set a pre-order record of more than one million on iTunes3. Sony, her label4, put in an order for 500,000 vinyl copies more than six months earlier in order to meet the expected demand. This exacerbated5 the already dire shortage of polyvinyl chloride that’s been dogging the recorded music industry for the last 18 months. The gigantic order from Sony forced an untold number of other artists to seek pressing6 plants overseas, delaying their vinyl plans by months.
她的音乐专辑《30》于2021年11月发行， 在iTunes上创下了超过100万套的预购纪录。过去18个月，聚氯乙烯的严重短缺一直困扰着唱片行业，阿黛尔签约唱片的索尼公司为了满足预期的市场需求，提前6个多月预定了50万张黑胶唱片，加剧了这一困境。索尼公司的巨额订单使无数其他歌手不得不到海外寻找唱片工厂，使他们的黑胶唱片生产计划推迟数月。
Her One Night Only TV special with Oprah Winfrey earlier that month (Nov. 12) drew more eyeballs than both the Grammys and the Academy Awards. We haven’t seen this kind of prime-time attention for a single artist since ABCTV pre-empted7 prime-time programming for the debut of the Scream video from Michael Jackson back in June 1995.
那月早些时候（11月12日）， 她与奥普拉·温弗瑞合作的电视特别节目《仅此一夜》比格莱美奖和奥斯卡奖吸引了更多的眼球。自从1995年6月美国广播公司在电视台黄金时段插播迈克尔·杰克逊《尖叫》的首发视频，我们还没有见过哪个艺人在黄金时段受到如此关注。
The white pantsuit she wore for the interview is being hailed as a dress-for-power masterstroke by the chattering fashionistas. If you’ve stood in line at the drugstore recently, you’ll have seen her on the cover of half a dozen magazines looking quite glamorous.
她在采访中穿的白色衣裤套装被喜欢评头论足的时尚达人誉为穿衣打扮的杰作。如果你近来在药店排过队，你会在半打杂志的封面上看到她，样子非常迷人。
When she does head out on tour, demand for tickets will be as high, if not more insane, than anything that’s come before.
她的巡回演出，门票需求之大不亚于过去任何一场演出，抑或更加疯狂。
Adele is the biggest anomaly8 in all of recorded music today. Other than Taylor Swift (and perhaps BTS), no one is able to move more physical products in an industry where 85 per cent of all revenues now come from streaming9.
阿黛尔是当今整个唱片界最大的异类。在一个85%的收入来自流媒体的行业，除了泰勒·斯威夫特（或许还有防弹少年团），没有人能够比阿黛尔带动更多的实体产品。
Adele is the kind of artist we used to see in the pre-internet era when you could have a global consensus that someone was worth listening to. It’s a sentiment that crosses all demos10.
阿黛尔是我们在前互联网时代看到的那种歌手，在那个时代，人们能够达成一种全球共识，认为某人的歌曲值得一听。她所有的样带都给人这种感受。
She has a divine singing voice that seems at odds with her North London/Cockney accent. And yes, she’s an accomplished songwriter who knows how to pick the perfect collaborators. Her record label gives her space and a chance to gather new experiences to sing about.
她有一副天籁嗓音，似乎与她的北伦敦/伦敦口音格格不入。哦，对了，她还是个才华横溢的歌词作家，且知道如何选择与自己契合的合作伙伴。她的唱片公司给她提供了施展才华的空间，给她机会去搜集新的歌唱素材。
But I think the essence of Adele’s popularity is simple. She’s just so bloody likeable.
但我认为，阿黛尔受欢迎，道理很简单：她实在是太可爱了。
Whenever the woman appears in public, she’s a sheer delight, bubbly, funny, occasionally self-deprecating, and just profane11 enough to make you wish you could spend a night down at the pub listening to her tell stories. Even though she’s sold over 120 million albums, her public image is one of a relatable12 human being. She comes off as familiar and fun in an intimate sort of way that few artists have ever achieved.
每当出现在公共场合，她很招人喜欢，活泼又有趣，偶尔自嘲，顺应世俗，让你想整夜待在酒吧听她讲故事。尽管专辑销量已超过1.2亿张，她在公众眼中却是个很实在的人。她亲切又有趣，平易近人，很少有艺人能够做到这样。
She’s so engaging that you don’t even have to like her music to like Adele.
阿黛尔太迷人了！甚至你就是喜欢她，而不一定是因为音乐而喜欢她。
Here’s something that hasn’t been discussed much: Adele isn’t about extending her brand through product endorsements and other non-music revenue streams. By sticking with just her music, she comes off as more authentic than all of her contemporaries who are shilling13 various products.
有一点尚未做太多讨论：阿黛尔并不打算通过产品代言和其他非音乐收入来源来拓展自己的品牌。相较于同时代所有那些为各种产品代言当托儿的歌手，阿黛尔坚持只做自己的音乐，更为真诚。
Another thing about The Adele Factor: We need to look at what was happening when she broke into the business more than a decade ago. Adele started her career right at the end of the CD era. Many who bought her first record were the kind of music consumers who purchased two or three CDs a year, usually at a department store or off the counter at a coffee shop. And when streaming took off, those early fans continued to prefer buying CDs, perhaps out of habit. Meanwhile, younger fans flocked to download her music from iTunes. (Hello, the first single from 25, sold a million digital tracks14 in a week back in 2015.)
阿黛尔成功的另一个因素是：我们需要看看十多年前她出道时这个行业正在经历着什么。阿黛尔的音乐生涯始于CD时代末期。许多购买她第一张唱片的人是那种一年购买两到三张CD唱片的消费者，他们通常在百货商店或咖啡店的柜台上购买。流媒体兴起时，这些早期的粉丝仍然喜欢购买CD唱片，也许是出于习惯吧。与此同时，年轻粉丝们蜂拥至iTunes下载她的歌曲。（《你好》，这首来自专辑《25》上的第一首单曲，在2015年的一周内就卖出了100万次。）
Here’s another thought: After 20 months of COVID-19, the world needs a hero(ine), a good-humoured superstar who can bring everyone together. Maybe Adele is the one to do it.
这里有另一种看法：新冠肺炎疫情已经持续了20个月，世界需要一个英雄，一个友好和善的超级巨星，从而能把所有人团结起来。也许，这个人就是阿黛尔。
（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）
注释：
1. mononymous 单名的；只说一个名字（而不是名字和姓氏）就知道是谁的。
2. 原名普林斯·罗杰斯·内尔森（Prince Rogers Nelson，1958—2016），美国流行歌手、词曲作家、音乐家、演员。
3. 苹果官方推出的数字媒体播放与管理应用程序。
4. label唱片公司。
5. exacerbate 使恶化，使加剧，使加重。
6. pressing 同批次的模压激光唱片。
7. pre-empt 代替，取代（电视节目）。
8. anomaly 异常的人，非常规事物。
9. streaming（音频或视频的）流动式接收，在线收听（或收看）。
10. demo（音乐的）试用版，样带。
11. profane 世俗的。
12. relatable 可明白的，可理解的。
13. shill（尤指假扮顾客）诱人购物。
14. track（光盘、录音磁带等上的）一首歌，一支乐曲。