Adele's new album "25" has sold more than 2.3 million copies in the United States alone during its first three days on the market, a stunning number for a music industry that has seen sales steadily fall in the digital era.

To put that into perspective, only Taylor Swift's "1989," (released late last year) Drake's "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" (released in April) and Ed Sheeran's "x'' (in June 2014) have sold as much as one million copies all year so far. Adele's disc went on sale Friday.

Nielsen Music said Monday that Adele will almost certainly break the one-week record for album sales, set by 'NSYNC in 2000 with 2.4 million for "No Strings Attached."

"There isn't anybody that I've talked to in the music business who hasn't been astonished by these numbers," said Dave Bakula, senior vice president for industry insights at Nielsen.

Adele's previous album, 2011's "21," has sold 11.24 million copies in the United States; it's likely many of the people who sought out the new one this weekend haven't bought an album since. Adele also did not allow streaming services like Spotify to make "25" available, so people anxious to hear it had to buy it.

She performed the first single "Hello" on "Saturday Night Live" this past weekend. That track alone has sold 2.5 million copies in the four weeks it has been on the market.

The initial sales are a boost for an industry that has drastically changed over the past decade. In contrast to the four albums that have topped one million in sales this year, there were 88 such discs in 2000, the year 'N Sync had its big opening, Nielsen said (Sales records date to 1991, when then-SoundScan started keeping track of first-week sales).

Adele is also leaving Swift in the dust. Her "1989" sold 1.3 million its first week on sale last year, the fastest seller in some time, and Bakula said Adele's disc is likely to finish the week with more than twice that number sold.

The British singer taped a concert special at New York's Radio City Music Hall last week that is scheduled to air on Dec. 14 at 10 p.m. ET.

Before she performed on "Saturday Night Live," a skit on the show spoke to her wide-ranging popularity. In the skit, a family was squabbling over politics at a Thanksgiving Day dinner, but when a girl put "Hello" on the stereo, everyone stopped arguing to sing along.

愛黛兒(Adele)新專輯《25》在美國市場頭三天銷售量已超過230萬張(copy)。 對於數位化時代(the digital era)銷售量穩定下滑的音樂產業來說，這是一個驚人的(stunning)數量。

把這個數字用更容易理解的方式來看(to put . . . into perspective)，只有泰勒絲(Taylor Swift)的專輯《1989》(去年年底發行)、德瑞克(Drake)的《If You're Reading This It's Too Late》(今年4月發行)和艾德希蘭(Ed Sheeran)的《X》(2014年6月發行)，整年度至今的銷售量可達一百萬張，而愛黛兒的專輯在週五才開始發售(僅短短幾天)。

(編按：Taylor Swift全名音譯是「泰勒‧斯威夫特」，但台灣普遍稱之為「泰勒絲」)

尼爾森音樂於週一表示，愛黛兒幾乎肯定打破專輯銷量的單週紀錄(break the . . . record)，之前是由超級男孩(NSYNC) 2000年的專輯《No Strings Attached》所締造的240萬張紀錄。

(編按：本電子報發行時的最新消息是，愛黛兒首週銷售量已超過300萬張，確定打破240萬這個首週銷售紀錄)

尼爾森音樂執掌產業動向的資深副總裁戴夫巴庫拉(Dave Bakula)表示，「跟我交談過的音樂業界人士沒有一個不對這個銷售量感到驚訝(astonished)。」

愛黛兒的上一張專輯是2011年的《21》，在美國的銷售量是1124萬張；很有可能的是，這個週末急著去找(seek out . . .)愛黛兒新專輯的人在2011年之後就沒買過其它唱片了。愛黛兒的新專輯不會在Spotify這種串流音樂服務(streaming services)平台上供應，因此渴望(anxious to . . .)聽愛黛兒新歌的人只能購買專輯。

在上週末的《週六夜現場》節目中，愛黛兒表演了新專輯的首支單曲(single) 《Hello》。這支單曲(track)本身開賣四週就賣了250萬張。音樂產業在過去十年間歷經了劇烈的變動，因此這張專輯首波的(initial)銷售量著實是個令人振奮的消息(boost)。相較於(in contrast to . . .)今年銷售量可超越(top)百萬的僅有4張專輯，2000年破百萬的專輯有88張，而那年也是超級男孩一鳴驚人的一年。(唱片的銷售紀錄可以追溯到(date to)1991年，那時的SoundScan開始追蹤(keep track of .. .)首週銷售量。)

(編按：SoundScan是唱片銷售量的追蹤系統)

愛黛兒的好成績把泰勒斯狠狠甩在腦後(leave . . . in the dust)。去年泰勒絲的專輯《1989》首週賣了130萬張，是好一段時間以來(in some time)賣得最快的一張唱片。尼爾森唱片的巴庫拉表示，愛黛兒的新專輯可能在本週結束前就會賣超過130萬張的兩倍。

這位英國歌手上週在紐約的「無線電城音樂廳」錄製了一個音樂會特集，預計在美國東部時間(ET, Eastern Time)的12月14日晚上10點播放(air)。

《週六夜現場》節目在愛黛兒表演前穿插了一個短劇(skit)，以愛黛兒廣受歡迎的程度為題材。短劇裡的一家人在感恩節大餐時因政治而爭論不休(squabble over . . .)，但當小女孩開始在音響上(on the stereo)播放《Hello》時，大夥兒便停止了爭吵，一起跟著哼唱(sing along)起來。