Musical Industry Background and Context: In 2009, he played 300 gigs, produced 6 self released EP's. He was noticed by Elton John and then signed to Asylum Records. His debut single ' The A Team' was released as a digital download in 2011 and entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling over 58,00 copies in the first week. His debut album '+' was released in September 2011 and became the second best selling album in the UK, selling 791,000 copies.
He has recently changed from predominantly Indie music to more Pop music but still has hints of Indie music within it at times.
Industry Profile: His musical status and influence is highly respected as he is one of the best selling artists of this generation and has influenced many other peoples sounds through writing music for other famous artists such as, Justin Bieber, One Direction and worked with Taylor Swift.
His social media is massive with over 21 Million Followers on Instagram and 20 Million on Twitter.
His most viewed music video currently has 3.3 Billion views on Youtube being the fourth video ever to reach views that high.
He has made many songs that have featured on Soundtracks for movies such as, The fault in our stars and The Hobbit but has also starred in TV shows such as, The Simpsons and Game of Thrones.
Genre and Conventions: Ed Sheeran is generally accepted as being from the Indie genre. This genre evolved from the style of music produced and promoted by independent record labels and so became a music genre. Early on he fit into the genre of Indie due to writing his own lyrics and having something to say as well as having very urban gritty videos which fit into the codes and conventions of the Indie genre. More recently he has moved away from that image and genre of Indie music and has gone more into Pop music which is evident through the use of his music videos and overall image which isn't the same as what it used to be when he first started out.
Lyrical Themes and Narratives: Music Videos.
His music videos tend to use a narrative style and often feature him only in a cameo role, although there are also videos of him playing the song in concert as a separate promotional tool.
'LEGO HOUSE' - The actor Rupert Grint is the main protagonist. His similarity to Sheeran is central to the narrative which manipulates audiences expectations. Ironically, at the time he was more famous than Ed Sheeran. He is represented as Sheeran using visual codes, for example clothing, hair, iconography including an acoustic guitar and pieces of lego relating to the lyrics. The urban setting, iconography and muted colours reflect the Indie gene. They also serve to reinforce the characters isolation. Grint assumes the persona of Sheeran as the star, appearing on stage and waving to crowds. We see him in the act of song writing, emphasising the creativity of the Indie musician. The use of close ups of the character's face as he sings to us, a convention of the music video, establishes an intimacy with the audience. The song is a love song, but in this video the narrative presents a different kind of love, the one of a fan and a star. Towards the end, he is confronted by his idol, the only appearance of Ed Sheeran in the video. The narrative considers notions of stardom and of living in a celebrity culture and gives a new perspective on the love song that aims to challenge audience perceptions.
'SHAPE OF YOU' - Ed Sheeran does feature quite heavily in this video alongside a female character who brings female empowerment to the video through the use of her strength in the gym and boxing. This video is a fast paced video compared to many of his others due to this song being different to his conventional music, this song is much more upbeat and fast paced. The video sees the two characters get closer and fall in love as it goes on which also fits in with the lyrics. There is a feature of the name of the album shown in the video on a wristband which could be a marketing technique. Ethnicity and gender seem to be the main themes explored in this music video, there isn't really a variety in age due to there not being that many characters in the video for that area to be largely explored. There are a lot of close ups to show expression and feelings throughout as well as a lot of establishing shots of the city they were in to show setting and some long shots to show everything thats going on in the shot for a broader view.
'CASTLE ON THE HILL' - Establishing shots of the landscape to show where he grew up as the song is about his life when he was younger and him looking back, giving the entire music video a very nostalgic feel. There is an actor that plays a young version of Ed Sheeran to further show the intensity of nostalgia of the video. Sheeran is featured throughout the video in his car singing along to the song and walking through fields and then it will cut back to the scenes of how he was when he was younger to make it seem like he is reflecting back on his teenage years whenever he drives back to where he grew up. Both boys and girls are featured in the video and are all around the same age whilst all being white. The teenagers throughout the video are doing things like drinking and smoking which could be classed as stereotypical behaviour. There are mainly close ups of Ed Sheeran throughout the video but also with the boy who plays younger Ed Sheeran to further show them being linked together. At the end of the video there is a scene of younger Ed Sheeran sitting with his friends in a forest drinking and then quickly cuts to current Ed Sheeran with some of the same friends in the same location, this could connote that he is still the same person he was then even through his fame and success.
Audience: Early Ed Sheerans' audience would have been younger people who found his work through the internet. His appeal to younger people was the themes and ideas behind his music and that he attempted to relate to people. His image is very accessible to discerning young people who are looking for something different, authentic and away from the mainstream.
However, recently he has become a lot more mainstream meaning that his music appeals to a lot of different audiences despite age, ethnicity and gender.
A literal audience response is the amount of people who have brought his music across a range of platforms as well as fan pages dedicated to him.
Marketing Techniques:
This is a detailed, in depth interview with the artist which appeared in Q Magazine. Q audience is 15-24 years old, mainly affluent males from the ABC1 demographic. The headline for this article in Q Magazine is a direct quote and challenges the stereotype of what it means to be 'ginger'. It is an imperative and is assertive. It also remains the audience of his iconic, recognisable feature.
The sub heading represents him as a 'honey voiced songwriting phenomenon who's breaking hearts', reinforcing his talent and his appeal. This mediates his representation and anchors the image.
The code of clothing is again relaxed; this is part of his iconic image, as is the code of gesture. His mode of address is indirect, reinforcing the 'cool' image.
He is positioned against a London backdrop with his guitar as further iconography. The photograph is constructed to reinforce his image and to make links to his busking days on the London streets. This is reinforced by the cover line placed in the flag 'Ed Sheeran has given up on busking to look at skirt instead'. This will appeal to the Q reader and is not necessarily in keeping with his image.
His representation is further developed in the article: 'Polite, articulate and a little shy' and 'crucially though, he remains self conscious enough not to be entirely comfortable with the demands of modern publicity.' This reinforces his representation as a serious musician who is not a construction of the music industry and is therefore less at home with commercial success.
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