Myspace hosted Adele’s three-song demo before XL Recordings noticed her.
Adele recorded the demo for a class project shortly after graduating from the BRIT School. She gave it to a friend, who uploaded the recordings to Myspace. The songs attracted enough attention online to reach Richard Russell, the head of XL Recordings, helping begin Adele’s professional career.
This origin story is often simplified into “Adele was discovered on Myspace.” More precisely, her friend posted the demo, and its online popularity led to contact from XL. Adele was reportedly skeptical that the invitation was genuine and brought a friend to the meeting.
Myspace was especially important to musicians in the mid-2000s, before streaming platforms dominated music discovery. Adele’s later debut album, 19, grew from this early connection with XL Recordings.