Is Ed Sheeran really that good?

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I heard he has the top 10 places in the UK singles chart at the moment. That probably says more about the state of record sales than the guy's talent, but I don't really know as I'm not conscious of any of his stuff; I know I must have heard at least some of his music because in my mind's eye I can clearly see him with his guitar singing, but he's literally made no positive impression on me whatsoever.

So how did it come to this? Is there really no competition, sales-wise, for this guy? And, if not, why is any A&R dept. - apart from the one that signed him - still in a job?

[jbiscuti]

It might not be your cuppa, but he's a bona-fide hit machine. I think the songs are well-crafted pieces of modern pop and I enjoy them. He seems like a humble guy to boot.

[Telliot]

I've always struggled with this subject. I generally avoid the radio at all costs because I find most of what is on it (outside of some college radio) to be absolute shit. But at the end of the day record companies want to capitalize on their product, and the fact their shitty product sells keeps them in business means that you are forced into knowing that Ed Sheeran exists. You're welcome.

Honestly, I don't know his music, so I can't speak directly to whether I think he's good or not. I enjoy a well-written pop song probably more than most people. In fact, I love a lot of music that people categorize as 'guilty pleasures'. I've never been ashamed to admit when I like something, and it usually comes down to the songwriting, a particular performance in the song, or the production choices. Nevertheless, I love all kinds of music and kind of expect others to disagree with a lot of my leanings.

What I've come to accept is that when it comes down to it, many people, maybe even MOST people, have bad taste. It's clear in every choice they make, from houses to cars, clothes to furniture, and TV/movie choices to music preferences. Top to bottom, bad taste. And people like that don't understand why you might spend more money on a shirt you love that was well-made over a shitty shirt that costs a fraction of the price at their local Marshall's (or whatever). Or why you might want to spend more on a vintage or reissue mid-century chair or table over just buying something much cheaper that does the same job. It almost becomes a lifestyle at some point.

Something that galvanizes this for me this: I work in car design. Everyone I work with on a daily basis is talented and skilled beyond belief, and they all went to art school. There is a small fraction of those people who simply have terrible taste. No matter how nicely they can draw, their aesthetic is just bad, whether it be dated or plain ugly, the result is bad. The simple fact is you can't teach taste!

So (speaking for myself), I pledge continue to enjoy having less, spending more for it, striving to make it last my lifetime (and hopefully pass it on to my kids), and forever loving bands no one has ever heard of, blissfully unaware of the latest Bieber (or fill-in-the-name-here) single.

Of course, the possibility exists that in fact I'm the one with bad taste...

[shadowplay]

It's funny I read this and considered starting a thread asking who still bought real singles.

They aren't singles. Album tracks are album tracks not singles.

I couldn't care less how many records he or anyone sells, I do care about the perversion of the term 'single'.

I've bought several 'singles' this week they are either seven's, 10'a or 12's (and I bought a couple of digital
Copies of ones I bought the physical of) and they are all discrete 'singles' releases not fucking album tracks that arent singles by any measure. IMO albums should be sold like a 24 pack
Of coke. MULTIPACK CANNOT BE SOLD SEPARATELY.

I think the single and album charts lost all credibility when they started including streams and YouTube shite, I know the singles chart was generally rigged when we were bairns but these days it's a full on sham.

D

[MechaBulletBill]

back in the sixties - when the top 40 mattered - you'd never have one artist dominate the top 10 because that would have meant a load of people spending a significant proportion of their earnings on one artist and that artist's label pouring all of its resources into promoting and distributing their music. In reality, there was healthy competition and you'd have to go round your mates to hear the new Stones single because you'd spent your weekly music fund on the Beatles.

Today, music is basically free. David's right. The top 40 'singles' is effectively the streaming charts and if everybody and their mom is streaming Spotify's Best of Ed Sheeran playlist, that's what the top 10 is gonna be.

[Squirrel]

Ugh, I was just about to post in the "first world problems" thread that literally every other item in my facebook feed is about this fuckstain. I guess the singles chart thing explains why. The few songs of his that I've heard are the sort of acoustic-strummy shit you usually hear being played by that annoying-ass "singer-songwriter" friend of a friend from college who brings his fucking guitar everywhere with him. I know some people who know him and apparently he's a complete prick IRL as well.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

The guy's escaped me completely.

Does this mean I should be embarrassed to not know a single one of his songs. I really am turning into an out of touch old man (and love it!)

[terminalvertigo]

The guy's escaped me completely.

Does this mean I should be embarrassed to not know a single one of his songs. I really am turning into an out of touch old man (and love it!)

With a gun to my head, and told to hum a song of his? I smile as they blow my brains out..

[shadowplay]

Sales aren't a measure of good anyway, they at a measure of popularity and popularity isn't a measure of quality. I heard some song about him living on a mountain the other day at the dentist, not my thing really, pretty limp but neither is a Ford Fiesta, Superdry jackets, The Sun, Marvel films. Ant and Dec, McDonald's, 50 Shades of Jilly Cooper, wall art from Ikea, a package holiday to Aya Napa and the Conservative party but they all shift units.

I'm not sure why music is a special case, the film charts are box office, they don't include broadcast TV or streaming, I'm not sure why some free stream counts the same as someone spending a tenner on a real
Single or even a digital single (not out an album multipack)

D

[eggwheat]

Some of the worst, most insipid music I've ever heard. Some kind of weird cult/mental illness going on with his fans.

Funnily most of of the kids I know can't stand him either..It's hardly edgy and exciting is it?

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I realised the albums chart was chock-full of Dark Side Of The Moon etc. but, like many on here, the singles chart just hasn't been on my radar for years. I think the same news report I heard about the Sheeran atrocity on said that The Rolling Stones were at number 11 with one or other of their classic period hits.

Counting Spotify etc. streams must have signaled the death of the singles chart once and for all. I vaguely remember when this came in and it seemed like it might be a democratising move as many bands with a lot of downloads/stream action but no distribution deal putting their product in, er, Woolworths were missing out on the 'top of the hit parade' status they'd kind of earned; in retrospect, it must have been more like disenfranchising than democratising.

Telliot said most people have bad taste. While I wouldn't necessarily argue with that, I think they may be outnumbered by people who don't think a lot of things bear overthinking and just accept what's pushed at them most aggressively, be it Superdry, Dan Brown or Ed Sheeran. The fact is most people don't really care that much about pop music, and I guess Ed Sheeran is perfect for those kind of folk.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

The guy's escaped me completely.

Does this mean I should be embarrassed to not know a single one of his songs. I really am turning into an out of touch old man (and love it!)

With a gun to my head, and told to hum a song of his? I smile as they blow my brains out..

[Telliot]

Telliot said most people have bad taste. While I wouldn't necessarily argue with that, I think they may be outnumbered by people who don't think a lot of things bear overthinking and just accept what's pushed at them most aggressively, be it Superdry, Dan Brown or Ed Sheeran. The fact is most people don't really care that much about pop music, and I guess Ed Sheeran is perfect for those kind of folk.

Yes, I think you're onto something there. I've often said, the difference between someone who is 'stylish' and someone who is 'frumpy' is that the former person just kind of gives a shit.

[mezcalhead]

Well, we have a combination of the fact that the streaming charts don't really mean anything, and that this is music that is getting talked about at the moment and tolerable by people who don't really like music that much.

Something said on the radio last night was that music used to be an active choice i.e. you would deliberately put a piece of vinyl on your turntable and play it. Now it's a passive choice - Ed Sheeran shows up in your spotify stream and you don't hate it enough to switch it off, bam a tracker somewhere marks you down as an Ed Sheeran fan.

[shadowplay]

that this is music that is getting talked about at the moment and tolerable by people who don't really like music that much.

I think this falling into it passively really started to get traction during the music video era where folk just sat like potatoes watching whatever MTV shoved at them, though you could argue a hell of a lot of folk got into music back in the 60's and 70's just to fit in and still do.

I think Ed fits into the mosaic of music somewhere to the left of X-Factor records. I guess his ordinary countenance and Tesco style apparel appealing both to parents who consider the dreaded likes of Coldplay as unacceptably avant garde and see Ed as a safe space from some of the more sexed up popular acts and their milksop children seeking something that flows easily from listening to Frozen.

Btw Sheeren has 16 tracks on his 'album' which looks like 6 too many to me.

D