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Ok I am considered an old codger but Galway girl is truly awful.
How did this guy get so popular?
Also utterly baffled by how he he's come to be one of the biggest acts in the world. I can't see how his stuff stands out at all.
Seriously? This is like the third thread in about as many weeks.
This again 😉
STW is not his target audience, so unsurprisingly lots of people on here don't like him and will say he's "shit".
He isn't, it's just that some people don't like his music. But loads of other people do, which is why he's so popular.
Its a bit like the BrewDog thread, it seems to be a "thing" to be very vocal about disliking anything that's very popular or successful.
Not my cup of tea but my daughter loves his music. HTH.
I've heard he writes his own, songs and plays an instrument.
That makes him OK AFAIC.
Contrarian for the sake of being contrarian. It's so edgy to dislike things other people like, and be really vocal about it so everyone knows how well read you are, or how well refined your taste in beer is, or how your music tastes are so advanced that you can't even understand how anything else can be popular.
[b]E D G Y[/b]
It's ginger guilt - for years the red headed population of this country has been given a hard time. Buying Ed's records is a way for people to feel better about the way they've treated the fiery haired population in the past. 😉
Seriously, he's a talented musician who seems to also have a savvy marketing team and has found his audience. Not to my tastes, but fair play to the fella.
His music isn't for me but my elder son does parkour with his lookalike...
Never heard one of his songs all the way through and don't want too but always a place in music for someone who has learned to play an instrument and writes his own stuff imo.
I've not listened to the new album really, but I find his previous albums a bit bland. Put just him, a guitar and a loop pedal on a stage and he's far better.
"[i]...it seems to be a "thing" to be very vocal about disliking anything that's very popular or successful.[/i]"
I hated popular stuff long before it became popular to do so.
I'm now in a logic loop trying to determine how I feel about it.
I read an interview with him recently. He comes across as a really decent bloke, modest and self-deprecating, who's more baffled than anyone else about the level of success he's presently enjoying
The ginger thief relieved me of 75 sheets so that my daughter could go and see him in a couple of weeks! I dint mind that castle on the hill track but everything else I've heard is shite.
I like his stuff and he seems like a nice guy (bought one of his team a new 911 because he'd always wanted one) - I can completely see why he's popular. Good for him.
Stupid way the charts are compiled basically. Every play on a steaming service like Spotify counts as a "sale" of that single. Multiply that with lots of young fans with time on their hands listening to the album on repeat and you get the ridiculous situation where all 16 songs on the album are in the Top 20 chart!
I don't particularly mind his music but it's not [i]that[/i] good!
Ha ha I am far from EDGY 😆 just amazed a song like Galway girl is so popular.
The boy has certainly got a lot of tallent. He is a bit like ColdPlay, quite a few poor songs but then some totally amazing songs. Proper still playing them in 20 years types. Well thats my view anyway.
He also seems like a really decent chap with a bloody good work ethic so pleased he has done so well, compared to all the manufactured lot.
Stupid way the charts are compiled basically. Every play on a steaming service like Spotify counts as a "sale" of that single.
Because no one actually buys a single anymore,so without counting streaming they'd have nothing to base the charts on - which, according to my 3 teenage girls, are utterly meaningless as no one cares anyway.
Music industry trying to big themselves up.
It does make sense to include streaming, but for some reason Youtube / Vevo plays don't get counted, nor radio airplay.
In utterly unrelated news, if anyone is looking for the Chairman of the UK's Official Chart Company, he can usually be found in the Spotify offices, doing his day job as head of Spotify's International Label Relations.
which, according to my 3 teenage girls, are utterly meaningless as no one cares anyway.
They might think that but some folk clearly do still care because Ed Sheeran is now all over the news, radio, papers, talk shows etc due to his "amazing chart success"
Can't say I have much of an opinion on Ed Sheran. He's ok and a talented bloke. Not really my cup of tea though.
Brew Dog on the other hand is shite. There's nothing clever about pretending shite beer is good just to fit in. There's plenty of properly good beers of every kind so no need to settle for sub standard pish.
I don't think he's too bad and the Mrs loves him. My argument would be, what is his competition?
A load of artificially produced groups, the spawn of a talent show or rappers.
He has some genuine talent with instruments, can write some good lyrics and string the two together. I wouldn't mind being a quid behind him either.
It also seems popular to vent hatred on here towards Pink Floyd, who happen to be in the top 10 selling bands of all time. (7th according to Wiki) Maybe everyone who bought their recordings are wrong too?
Ed Sheeran is now all over the news, radio, papers, talk shows etc due to his "amazing chart success"
like I said
Music industry trying to big themselves up.
Kids don't give a hoot about the charts.
Kids don't give a hoot about the charts.
Yer I know but it's still the answer to the OP's question:
[i]"How did this guy get so popular?"[/i]
Chart 'success' so the industry and media do what they have always done: make him a huge star and put him on everything.
An interesting question would be to ask your girls why [i]they[/i] think he is so popular?
If they had never heard of him and you played one of his tracks to them would they really say "That's amazing. That man should appear everywhere and be played endlessly on the radio"?
IMHO he's a bloody genius when he gets on the loop pedal - bloody clever and as someone said above, seems like a nice normal chap.
Luckily for me I'm not too cool for school 8)
How? The same targeted advertising that saw Trump and Brexit happen. Truly more evil than we could have imagined.
Im not a fan at all but then never heard much of him whereas Paulo Nutini i like his albums, son 30 years younger thinks my music taste is shite everyone to their own. The other thread about first track first album had me boakin grew up with boston hated black sabbath and tpau reminds me of an ex too much such a crappy 80'record
Bloody good luck to him, who cares why or how? With all the constant negative news how can a quiet unassuming fella twiddling his way to mega success without harming anyone do anything other than raise a smile.
I like a lot of his stuff, and as said before, he writes, sings and plays his own stuff, with considerable talent. And, live with a loop pedal he is amazing! Really clever
Stupid way the charts are compiled basically. Every play on a steaming service like Spotify counts as a "sale" of that single.
No it doesn't.
Every 150 streams of a song count represent one single sale for chart purposes.
Multiply that with lots of young fans with time on their hands listening to the album on repeat and you get the ridiculous situation where all 16 songs on the album are in the Top 20 chart!
Yes. It's a measure of popularity, as it always has been.
He sells more units, and gets streamed more than everyone else. By a mile.
You'll have to explain why that's "rediculous" ?
I don't see why his massive popularity should count against him ??
[quote=somouk ]
My argument would be, what is his competition?
Pharrel, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars to name just three.
all infinitely better than any of the guff Sheeran churns out.
"oh but he plays instruments and writes his own songs"
By that argument Frank Sinatra was a no mark...
I was kind of oblivious to the actual music, I think I'd only heard a couple of the big hits which naturally are the most boring and mass market. But then just recently I started seeing more of the interesting stuff he does and it's bloody good tbh. (I like the looping thing especially, and there's something excellently baffling about a ginger rapper). He's obviously a good feller, too. Put it this way, would you rather The Kids were listening to him, or some autotuned bilge?
Also, I had a bad moment a while back when I heard a Justin Bieber song and liked it. Thank god, it turned out Sheeran wrote it, it's not a Bieber song at all!
music being subjective - years ago my Dad thought the music I listened to was rubbish, these days I think the music my kids listen to is the pits... to each is own.
Eclectic is the word that comes to mind...
When I hear Ed Sheeran I think people mean Ed O'Neil who played Al Bundy in Married...With Children #thanksforsharing
Im not a fan at all but then never heard much of him whereas Paulo Nutini i like his albums
I'm the opposite - I've heard Divide on constant loop for the last few weeks (I have a 14 year old daughter!), and can still listen to it without wanting to throw the computer out of the window.
Paulo Nutini on the other hand has a similar effect on me as dragging finger nails down a blackboard!
😯Also, I had a bad moment a while back when I heard a Justin Bieber song and liked it.
Nooooooooooo!
Apparently his record company weren't keen on Galway Girl either, but then Ed pointed out that his lot were a massive success pumping stuff like that out all the time.
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not a fan
liked his collaboration with PJDN
You'll have to explain why that's "rediculous" ?
All 16 tracks from the album in the Top 20? Every one a smash hit, not a single duff filler on there.
By that "measure" he's easily the most popular act in the entire history of the charts. Better than the Beatles, Stones, Bowie, Queen, Elvis, Sinatra, U2, Jackson, Springsteen, Madonna etc etc
Really?
That's not ridiculous, what's ridiculous is thinking the charts mean the same in the digital age as they used to in the days of physical media.
All 16 tracks from the album in the Top 20? Every one a smash hit, not a single duff filler on there.
That's not what chart success says (nor what I suggested)
Chart success just says that your stuff is more popular than all the other stuff in any given week.
It's really not complicated.
[b]By that "measure" [/b]he's easily the most popular act in the entire history of the charts. Better than the Beatles, Stones, Bowie, Queen, Elvis, Sinatra, U2, Jackson, Springsteen, Madonna etc etc
Do you mean, the measure you just invented?
Although he is the most popular act since the charts changed to include 150 streams as a single sale.
Really?
No.
But he was more popular than all those people/bands in that particular week. In terms of sales and streaming.
Also utterly baffled by how he he's come to be one of the biggest acts in the world. I can't see how his stuff stands out at all.
I suspect that you don't possess ovaries and are over 25.
TBF his public persona is very good and locally (Framlingham, Suffolk) he is a demi-god.
He seems like a nice guy, and I'm glad my daughter's listening to him rather than some of the guff out there.
Plus, he's got a scar on his face from being stabbed with a sword by a princess.
All 16 tracks from the album in the Top 20? Every one a smash hit, not a single duff filler on there.By that "measure" he's easily the most popular act in the entire history of the charts. Better than the Beatles, Stones, Bowie, Queen, Elvis, Sinatra, U2, Jackson, Springsteen, Madonna etc
popularity <> quality
By the measure of success currently used he outperforms those artists this week.
I don't mind Ed tbh, but that Galway Girl song ... it's like a conscious effort to out Blunt James Blunt.
[quote=Northwind ]That's not ridiculous, what's ridiculous is thinking the charts mean the same in the digital age as they used to in the days of physical media.
the charts have always been crap
first time I flew with Emirates. Browsing the in flight entertainment and they had "Every Number 1 since the charts began".
Brilliant I thought. Let's go to some classic years
67 - crap
68 - crap
70 - crap
73 - crap
etc etc.
It was all crap novelty pop stuff, cheap glam rock stuff etc.
Came home and told my old man and he confirmed that the charts were always garbage. The good stuff rarely hit number one. It was always crap that people bought in large numbers on a regular basis.
the charts have always been crap
Yeah but at least it was varied crap. 😀
Imagine the old chart countdown these days:
"Okay pop pickers, we're down to the Top 10 and it's a new entry at number 10, Ed Sheeran, down two places to number 9, Ed Sheeran, up one place from last weeks position it's Ed Sheeran at 8, .... dooo-de-doo de-de-dooo... staying in at 7 it's Ed Sheeran, falling three places it's Ed Sheeran at 6..."
😆
The good stuff rarely hit number one
Mixed bag perhaps but:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artists_by_number_of_UK_Singles_Chart_number_ones
[quote=GrahamS ]the charts have always been crap
Yeah but at least it was varied crap.
Imagine the old chart countdown these days:
"Okay pop pickers, we're down to the Top 10 and it's a new entry at number 10, Ed Sheeran, down two places to number 9, Ed Sheeran, up one place from last weeks position it's Ed Sheeran at 8, .... dooo-de-doo de-de-dooo... staying in at 7 it's Ed Sheeran, falling three places it's Ed Sheeran at 6..."
The good stuff rarely hit number one
Mixed bag perhaps but:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artists_by_number_of_UK_Singles_Chart_number_ones
br />
the fact westlife have x2 the number ones of Jacko, says everything really
I was just happy to see McFly in there.
BoardinBob - Memberthe charts have always been crap
Sure, but that's not really what I meant- today's charts just don't record the same thing as old charts so making any comparison just doesn't make sense.
the charts have always been crap
Not really. The charts have always been perfect at what they are designed to do.
Showing who sold/streamed the most records that particular week.
That's all they do. And all they have ever done.
You could argue they are a better measure these days, because people don't repeatedly stream a song if they don't like it.
But bought singles always counted, even if the buyer grew to hate it, once they had listened to it a few times.
today's charts just don't record the same thing as old charts
Completely agree - what I'm saying is that large parts of the media and industry still [i]act[/i] like they do. They still book acts, set playlists, write stories, do interviews etc based on what is happening in that chart. Hence my explanation for Ed's instant megafame.
today's charts just don't record the same thing as old charts
Completely agree - what I'm saying is that large parts of the media and industry still act like they do. They still book acts, set playlists, write stories, do interviews etc based on what is happening in that chart. Hence my explanation for Ed's instant megafame.
That's because, oddly enough, TV stations want popular people on their shows, and radio stations want to play the music that is popular (in general)
And there is no better gauge of popularity in music in any given week, than the charts.
Wonder why they use it ?
You could argue they are a better measure these days, because people don't repeatedly stream a song if they don't like it.
Maybe, but the fact that all 16 of his songs are in the Top 20 suggests that a lot of people are just playing the whole album.
Playing a whole album? That'll never catch on! What do people think it is? The 1970's?
Maybe, but the fact that all 16 of his songs are in the Top 20 suggests that a lot of people are just playing the whole album.
Yes. A LOT more than ANY other album ever made that's currently available for sale or streaming.
Quite impressive really eh ?
So. If you were booking a musician for a popular chat show this week, or choosing popular songs to add to a playlist for the radio, who would it make sense to feature do you think ?
Someone who's currently popular maybe 😉
Edit- and if people are playing the album [b]in full, 100 times[/b], do you think it's reasonable that he gets the equivalent of ONE single sale per track counted towards the charts ?
Try some John Martyn. Nuff said.
"Playing a whole album? That'll never catch on! What do people think it is? The 1970's?"
😀
just heard it for the first time and i liked it. not a lover of music but thought it was good
fallsoffalot - Membernot a lover of music but thought it was good
Harshest review ever 😆
A LOT more than ANY other album ever made that's currently available for sale or streaming.
Indeed. All 3 of his available albums are in the Top 5 of the album chart. 😯
if people are playing the album in full, 100 times, do you think it's reasonable that he gets the equivalent of ONE single sale per track counted towards the charts ?
The 100 (or 150) times thing is irrelevant though.
As sharkbait pointed out earlier no one actually buys singles anymore, so the chart is almost entirely based on streaming. The scaling factor applies to everyone so it has no influence on chart position, only the "sales" figures.
Basically I think the historic purpose of the charts has been lost, and that's a bit of a shame, but things move on.
I don't know how you could "fix" it or get any kind of equivalent these days.
I think he's crap but then I'm a middle-aged man and I don't really understand what young people do anymore. He's no Roger Whitaker that's for certain.
I don't know how you could "fix" it or get any kind of equivalent these days.
Well, you would look at how music consumption has changed. And you would figure out that mostly people stream music, but some people still buy it.
Then you would look at how to measure the popularity of a particular track, in a particular week. So you would count the number of sales first, then you would add the number of streams (with a formula applied to the streams to take into account the relative cost differences between streaming and buying)
Then you would line up all the tracks in order, with the most popular at the top, and all the others in order, according to how popular they are relative to each other.
Then you publish the list to anyone that cares (almost nobody apart from those that want to say it's crap)
So it's pretty much the same as it always has been.
fallsoffalot - Member
just heard it for the first time and i liked it. not a lover of music but thought it was good
Rearrange these words into a well-known phrase or saying:
Faint. Damned. Praise. By.
😉
not a lover of music but thought it was good
😀
Ideally, your opinion shouldn't count. But it does, along with all the other people who aren't lovers of music who buy Ed Sheeran's records.
the fact westlife have x2 the number ones of Jacko, says everything really
Probably Karma, I don't think anyone from Westlife abused children
😀
Shane touched my heart 😆
PMSL @ juanghia