Decent, dull, and predictable. These are criticisms of Ed Sheeran’s New album: Play . Yet, the first singles old phone and azizam are good for millions of streams on spotify. Why Does Sheeran Remain So Popular Worldwide Despite the Criticism?
Sheeran Has Been One of the most streamed artists of all time for years. On Spotify, The British Singer Now Has More Than 43 Billion Streams. Hits like shape of you and perfect are absolute standouts, but the first singles from play are also doing remarkable well. That shows that his popularity remains undiminished.
With his new album, the 34-year-old Pop Star is Starting an Ambitious Project. Play is the first part of a pentalogy: Five albums Named after the buttons on a remote control. After this album, puse , Fast Forward , Rewind , and Stop Will Follow.
The pentalogy ends with stop . And Right at That Point, We Ourselves Press Rewind : Back To Sheeran’s First Steps As A Musician. The artist learned to play guitar at a young age and also written his own songs at the time. In 2011, His International Breakthrough Toke Place With The Song The A Team . And it didn’t stop there.
Many albums and hits followed. Shape of you was Number One in the Dutch Top 40 for Fifteen Weeks, Longer Than Any Other Single. And yes, some of his songs really seem to be known by everyone. Because who is the leg to a wedding where the first dance was to perfect ?
Recognizability and Connection as Greatest Weapons
Eva Koreman, Presenter at NPO Radio 1, Thinks She Knows What Sheeran’s Success is. “Fans Recognize Themselves in His Lyrics and Feel A Direct Connection,” She Tells Nu.nl. “Sheeran Masters the craft of the pop song and knows exactly what is needed to make a song appealing. His music is generic, but not too much. He knows how to find that balance. As a result, his songs remain accessible.”
At the same time, the new album, which includes Indian influences, is Receiving Mixed Reviews. For Example, NRC calls the album “Dull and Superficial.” Accordance to the newspaper, the lyrics are or “children’s pum level.” De Volkskrant is also not Enthusiastic. “If His New Album Play Makes One Thing Clear, It is How Boring Ed Sheeran is,” Reads the Title of the Review.
Yet the Singer Has Tried to Broaden His Music. “Sheeran Worked with Grime Artists, Released a Tropical Pop Hit ( Shape Of You ), A Nostalgic Ballad ( Castle On The Hill ) and An Irish Folk Track ( Galway Girl ),” Notes Music Journalist Rachel Aroesti or The Guardian . “Also afrobeats, reggaeton and equally metal later appeared on his repertoire.”
But Aroesti also makes a caveat. She Calls Sheeran’s Versions “or Smoothed Out”: “Accessible, But Without Rough Edges.”
Popular and Accessible Therefore, but not always loved by critics. “Reviewers are Sometimes Less Enthusiastic about his work because it is not experimental or artistic enough,” Koreman Explains. “The albums do not mark a specific period. You could put all his music together and put it on shuffle. You don’t know that song come from which album.”
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Ed Sheeran Surprises New Yorkers with Pop-up Concert Full of New Songs
What makes Sheeran So Irresistible?
The contrast between critical reviews and massive popularity raises the question: What makes sohran so irresistible to listeners? “His music is widely accessible and his image reinforces that: he is an ordinary boy with authenticity and humor,” Says Koreman. “In Addition, he writes about Recognizable Themes and Thus Appeals to a Large Audience.”
Aroesti also sees that as the key to his continued success. “Sheeran Knows How to Unite Different Sides in himself: Sincere and Calculating, Eclectic and Ordinary, Ordinary and Yet Exceptional. With that he has helped the course of pop music,” She writes in the Guardian .
Sheeran’s Versatility Helps: from Intimate Ballads to Stadium-Vo-Vorthy Pop Hits. Accordance to Koreman, Those Concerts also play a Role. “His concerts are an extension of his music,” She says. “Hey of plays alone and knows how to complete captivate the audience. His charm, musicality and humor make a simple performance something special.”