
Photo : Eva Rinaldi [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
So the question really becomes, why is Ed Sheeran breaking these records? Is Ed Sheeran’s music so much better than Elton John’s and all those other classic rock artists mentioned above? Well, that’s up to you to decide. What it really comes down to is competition. Ed Sheeran really does not have much competition as far as current popular songwriters. Or, at least songwriters that record companies and radio stations will get behind and promote. There are many great new bands and artists that are releasing music in the present. The problem is no one gets to hear any of it. The record companies and radio stations play it safe and only promote what they believe will be popular. So when young fans hear an artist who writes well like Ed Sheeran, they go crazy because they are actually hearing great music surrounded by an environment of mediocre pop songs. In the modern world of popular music, Ed Sheeran stands out.
What also must be noted is how news spreads in seconds in today’s world. I can’t ever deliver any breaking news to my sons because they are instantly notified on their phones. If anything is of small interest to anyone, the entire planet is notified in two seconds. Nowadays, when one teenagers falls in love with a song, Earth’s entire youth population knows about it, and is checking out the tune. Yeah we might be exaggerating a bit, but … not really.
So Ed you keep breaking those records and releasing great music, we love you. It’s important to have great singer /songwriters releasing substantial stuff. And Ed, remember the second you release a new song or hum a tune walking down the street, the entire world will get a notification, a tweet, a share, and then stream it on Spotify.