{"id":11009,"date":"2017-03-10T18:31:45","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T18:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/ed-sheeran-rules-the-charts-where-can-he-go-next\/"},"modified":"2017-03-10T18:31:45","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T18:31:45","slug":"ed-sheeran-rules-the-charts-where-can-he-go-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/ed-sheeran-rules-the-charts-where-can-he-go-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran rules the charts: Where can he go next?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"EdImage copyright Official Charts Company
Image caption Ed Sheeran holding his number one trophy sideways so it looks more like a letterbox <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ed Sheeran has just broken a truckload of records with his latest album \u00f7 (Divide).<\/p>\n

In its first week it outsold the rest of the top 500 combined and became the fastest-selling album ever by a male artist.<\/p>\n

Ed is also number one on the singles chart. And number two. And number three, four, five, six, seven...<\/p>\n

Actually let's save some time: Ed Sheeran holds 16 places on this week's top 20 - a chart first.<\/p>\n

In its opening week, Divide sold four times more than the fastest-selling album of 2016 - David Bowie's Blackstar. <\/p>\n

Sheeran now has the third fastest-selling album in UK chart history, behind Adele and Oasis.<\/p>\n

Now is probably a good time to dig a little deeper into how Sheeran got to this point and have a look at just how much further an artist can go after such phenomenal success.<\/p>\n

Ed's five-album plan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sheeran has often spoken about how he mapped out his career route early on.<\/p>\n

He'd ingeniously come up with the idea of using maths symbols as titles for his first five studio albums.<\/p>\n

His three releases to date have been named + (Plus), x (Multiply), and \u00f7 (Divide).<\/p>\n

To add another element to the themed series - each album has a different colour scheme.<\/p>\n

The cover for his debut was bathed in orange, while Multiply was coated in bright green and Divide a light pastel blue.<\/p>\n

Image caption This radio studio could really use a bit more branding <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He isn't the first artist to have a hugely successful series of albums with uniformed titles.<\/p>\n

Adele's first three were called 19, 21 and 25 after her age at the time of writing them.<\/p>\n

It's likely = (Equals) and - (Subtract) will be strong contenders for Ed's next two records.<\/p>\n

Unless he want's to go with \u03c0 (pie).<\/p>\n

Have we now reached peak Sheeran?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Certainly getting good value out of that multipack of marker pens <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don't be ridiculous. You can never have enough Ed Sheeran.<\/p>\n

However, his monumental success does raise the question of how he could possibly ever match the dizzy heights of Divide.<\/p>\n

Pop music is littered with bands and artists who have struggled to grow artistically after the first few albums, so he'll have to tread carefully going forward.<\/p>\n

He may well follow in the footsteps of Beyonce and Coldplay - who both used their fourth albums to take a new artistic direction.<\/p>\n

Beyonce's 4 saw her singing in a lower register than she had done previously and experimenting with new genres.<\/p>\n

It paved the way for her critically-acclaimed fifth album and 2016's groundbreaking Lemonade.<\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Beyonce and Coldplay performed together at last year's Super Bowl <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similarly, Coldplay's first three albums broadly stuck to the same mould, but the band surprised many when they returned with Viva La Vida.<\/p>\n

Its lead single Violet Hill took Coldplay in a new direction and opened the door for their later albums Mylo Xyloto and A Head Full of Dreams - which were far less constrained by any particular genre.<\/p>\n

So, where does this leave Ed Sheeran?<\/p>\n

The bonus tracks on Divide might give us a clue.<\/p>\n

Image copyright EPA
Image caption Some record stores held album release parties when Divide came out last Friday <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The deluxe edition of the album features four extra songs not included in the standard 12-track edition.<\/p>\n

A couple of these more experimental bonus tracks show a different side to Sheeran, and show how easily he can transcend different musical styles.<\/p>\n

The fans certainly seemed to have reacted well to them.<\/p>\n

Two of the bonus tracks - Barcelona and the folksy Nancy Mulligan - actually charted in higher positions than some of the main songs on the album in this week's chart.<\/p>\n

It could well be a sign that his next two albums will be his most creative yet.<\/p>\n

Stadium heights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Sheeran played Wembley Stadium once already when Multiply was released <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regardless of where he might go musically, there's little doubt about where Ed is headed on the live music circuit.<\/p>\n

"I won't stop 'til my name's in lights at stadium heights," Sheeran sang in one of his earliest hits - You Need Me, I Don't Need You.<\/p>\n

In 2017, he has several dates lined up at huge venues such as The O2 in London.<\/p>\n

While an arena tour would normally mark the peak of a band's career, the most successful artists can climb to the very top tier.<\/p>\n

"In 2018, we just do stadiums," Stuart Camp, Sheeran's manager, recently told Music Week.<\/p>\n

"We knew three nights at the O2 would be underplay... but we can't do stadiums all the time because they're weather dependent, so we knew we'd do arenas first."<\/p>\n

"But in summer 2018, there's a lot of outdoor shows, a proper stadium tour."<\/p>\n

Songwriting success<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Sheeran has recently written hits for Justin Bieber and Matt Terry <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many artists turn to songwriting once they've had enough of performing - or struggle to find fame - for themselves.<\/p>\n

Sheeran might be unlikely to retire for quite some time - but he's already started giving some of his songs away to other artists.<\/p>\n

He was behind Justin Bieber's monstrous 2015 hit Love Yourself and wrote the most recent X Factor winner's single - When Christmas Comes Around by Matt Terry.<\/p>\n

The list goes on - One Direction's Little Things and Jessie Ware's Say You Love Me also had Sheeran's name on the credits.<\/p>\n

We're pretty confident plenty more singers would happily take a few songs off his hands if he ever gets sick of worldwide adoration.<\/p>\n

Between songwriting, stadiums, and new musical directions, Ed has plenty of time and opportunity to build further on his incredible success.<\/p>\n

We look forward to seeing how many more records he'll be able to break along the way.<\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images <\/figure>\n

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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