Ed Sheeran

Name: Edward Christopher Sheeran

Age 23 years (February 17, 1991)
Born: Halifax- England
Occupation: Singer/Songwriter
Genre: Indie
Signed to: Atlantic Records/ Asylum
Awards won 32/ Nominations 94

 Ed Sheeran has rapidly grown to huge success in the

past few years. Having grown from an internet
sensation.

Sheeran broke through commercially in June 2011, when

his debut single "The A Team" debuted at number three
on the UK Singles Chart. Buoyed by the chart success of
the singles "The A Team" and "Lego House", his debut
album + has been certified quadruple platinum in the
United Kingdom. In 2012, he won two BRIT Awards for
Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough
of the Year, while "The A Team" also won the Ivor
Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

History Early Music

Career
Ed had an interest in playing the guitar form a young age
and was writing songs and playing for students at
Thomas Miller High School that he attended
He recorded his first EP in 2005 at the age of 15, this was
called The Orange Room and led to the release of this
first two albums in 2006 and 2007.
In 2009 Ed began to work very hard in an attempt to get
his music heard. His inspiration came from James
Morrison who was reported to play 200 gigs in a year.
A determined Ed Sheeran matched this and went on to
play 312 Gigs.

2009/10
In 2009 Ed produced another EP titled You
Need Me which was put onto sites such as
YouTube so that his name would spread.

His next breakthrough came in 2010 when his

talents were spotted by rapper Example,
Example came across Ed after seeing a video
posted on SBTV. This is an online channel for
young upcoming artists to get there music
heard. Example saw Ed on this site and invite
him to come and tour with him, having noticed
his massive potential.

2011

In January 2011 Ed Sheeran's rise in

popularity was apparent as his
entirely independent EP peaked at
Number 2 in the iTunes chart.
Selling over 7,000 copies.

It was at this point that Ed Sheeran

was signed by Atlantic Records/
Asylum.

The summer of 2011 saw the release

of Ed Sheeran debut Single A- Team
This reached number 3 in the charts.

Throughout this summer Ed played

many more live performers, including
various stages at Reading and
Glastonbury.

+
Having released 5 Eps Ed and Atlantic Records finally
released his debut album + On September 9 th 2011.

In the first week sold 102,000 copies and went on to

be the 9th Biggest selling British album in 2011.

Therefore being granted Triple platinum by BPI for

selling over 1,000,000 copies.

Starter Indie genre

Discuss 2 mins

Codes and conventions of the indie genre

Theme of songs
Song lyrics
Clothing
Iconography
etc

Codes and conventions

Themes Realistic, hard-hitting, resonate with youth.

Takes itself more seriously
Range of musical styles but same ethos
Autonomous and less concerned with commercial
success
Niche audiences
Real Talent music video
Urban gritty settings
Casual clothing
Lyrics tell stories related to real life
Narrative raw & unglamorous, focus on emotions.
Artist not the focus narrative

What is indie?

Debates
"Indie" has pretty much just replaced "alternative"
as a broad genre tag which indicates a
juxtaposition to mainstream pop music. The term
may have originally referred to an artists record
label status, but now just refers to a very broad
inclination towards originality and artistic
integrity.
I - Inspired
N - Nontraditional
D - Determined
I - Innovative
E - Empowered

Hybrid
Indie/pop has some more
conventional pop songs
Sheeran has called himself acoustic
soul
collaborations rap and hip hop
Genre theory?
Audience?

The five EPs

The title derived from a
time when there was no
"hype" surrounding
Sheeran and he decided to create a buzz by
producing five EP's, an
indie-style EP, a singer-songwriter EP, a folkstyle EP, a live EP and a collaborations EP
which was the fifth leading to the title No.5
Collaborations Project. Released 7 January 2011
Sheeran gained mainstream attention. Three months later,
Sheeran was signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

No. 5 Collaborations Project Grime

EP by British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was the fifth out of
five EPs recorded in a hope to get him signed by a record label.
Sheeran wanted each song to act as a musical and tried to avoid
lyrics about women.
Track listing
1. "Lately" (featuring Devlin) 4:32
2. "You" (featuring Wiley) 3:26
3. "Family" (featuring P Money) 4:15
4. "Radio" (featuring JME) 3:41
5. "Little Lady" (featuring Mikill Pane) 5:31
6. "Drown Me Out" (featuring Ghetts) 4:24
7. "Nightmares" (featuring Random Impulse, Sway & Wretch 32)
4:05
8. "Goodbye to You" (featuring Dot Rotten)

 The EP is composed of "haunting" and "sensitive

production" which "meshes the protagonists
acoustic compositions with sombre, intense
beats.
The first track "Lately" features rapper Devlin and
lyrically discusses insomnia and stress deriving
from their work as musicians.
"You" features rapper Wiley lyrically talks of family
"Family" which features P Money creates a "tense
atmosphere" and recalls a near fatal car crash P
Money was involved in.
The dark mood is furthered with track "Little Lady"
a re-recording of Sheeran's single "The A Team"
which features vocals from Mikill Pane and is about
a prostitute addicted to crack cocaine.