I think you answered your own question in regards to the circumstances you mentioned. It would be a death kneel for the average artist to try that tactic.

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Caveat: The only way I can see this working for other artists is for those artists that don't have a strong streaming audience to begin with. It wouldn't matter. The older demographic or Adult Contemporary, Country, Christian & Traditional Gospel markets, would more than likely be game for something like that.

[Edited 12/29/15 11:17am]

Adele is an anomaly. U don't create "policy" or in this case industry practices/expectations based on the anomaly

^^For the most part, gospel was never really a huge seller and neither was blues as they don't get a lot of radio airplay or media attention. There's a few albums that sold a lot for the genre, but even those albums were not blockbuster sales compared to the bigger selling pop, rock, country & R&B albums. Maybe a couple of million. People in general who buy gospel & Christian pop were already looking for it, and not something that usually sells to the mainstream. Very few gospel songs have become hits on secular radio, especially Top 40.

datdude said:

Other acts will try and do what Adele did with 25 but most will fail or sell only marginally better. The trend for the music industry continues to trend downwards, I can't see that changing.

Streaming services do not lead to sales at all, this is already proven. Even the idea of streaming your album a week early has done nothing but give illegal download sites a jump on your stuff

MotownSubdivision said:

Eliminate the chances of people listening to your album for free and more than likely, they'll buy it. It just goes to show you, if people really want to hear a person's music, they'll invest the money to do so.

That doesn't necessarily mean a person will buy an official copy though. There's been people at places I've worked at and around the neighborhood who sell burned CDs and/or DVDs. In the case of the DVDs, they'll have movies just released in theaters or haven't came out yet. They have a list of songs and albums to choose from to make a custom CD. The choices are usually R&B, rap, oldies and some pop hits. The prices are cheaper than buying a real CD/DVD and the people who buy them don't care about the artwork or good picture quality in the case of the movies. Some of the sellers make a lot of money.

MickyDolenz said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Adele really did put a simple, foolproof plan into action. Eliminate the chances of people listening to your album for free and more than likely, they'll buy it. It just goes to show you, if people really want to hear a person's music, they'll invest the money to do so. I won't say that there wasn't a little bit of risk involved but the logistics behind the concept make too much sense. Add to the fact that 25 was a highly anticipated release and Adele had it in the bag though nobody was expecting for the album to sell so much so soon. All the praise for Taylor and the commercial success of 1989 looks even sillier when Adele came in and sold more in a matter of weeks than Taylor did in the span of over a year with 1989. So will others follow Adele's lead? I expect some to try at the very least.

Adele was so anticipated, and wanted--that anything she attempted was probably going to work..

1st release or 10 years from now?

MotownSubdivision said:

Adele really did put a simple, foolproof plan into action. Eliminate the chances of people listening to your album for free and more than likely, they'll buy it. It just goes to show you, if people really want to hear a person's music, they'll invest the money to do so. I won't say that there wasn't a little bit of risk involved but the logistics behind the concept make too much sense. Add to the fact that 25 was a highly anticipated release and Adele had it in the bag though nobody was expecting for the album to sell so much so soon. All the praise for Taylor and the commercial success of 1989 looks even sillier when Adele came in and sold more in a matter of weeks than Taylor did in the span of over a year with 1989. So will others follow Adele's lead? I expect some to try at the very least.

The streaming with larger acts are really an attempt to cut down leaks, its that simple. Taylor Swift and Adele are not calling the shots with what gets streamed or not, they work for labels, they are not indie artists. When artists now allow things like iTunes or Amazon to stream a week early they are reallly just saying COME STEAL OUR SHIT. The new Coldplay went up on iTunes to stream and within the hour it was on about 100 sites for download free. So Adele move was a no brainer, it was going to sell alot they wanted a record setting release, and they cut out the obstacles as best as they could. I mean they hyped the shit for eons, even people that don't like were talking about it.