Ed Sheeran, DJ Mustard, receive top songwriter honours

Ed Sheeran and DJ Mustard shone in the latest list of certifications by the National Music Publishers Association in the US to songwriters and publishers.

They had six certifications each for sales verified by the Recorded Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The list, covering July, saw NMPA award 356 certifications of hit songs to top songwriters.

RIAA’s certifications, based on sales and on-demand streams, counts 500,000 units as Gold, 1 million for Platinum, and 2 million and over is regarded as multi-Platinum,

Sheeran’s Sing, The A-Team and Give Me Love were certified Platinum. Kiss Me, Tenerife Sea and Drunk have Gold status.

DJ Mustard (Dijon McFarlane) hit Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum for Needed Me, which was performed by Rihanna. His LA Love (LA, LA), recorded by Fergie, was certified gold and platinum. Saved, by Ty Dolla $ign, hit Gold status.

Imagine Dragons (Benjamin McKee, Alexander Grant, Daniel Reynolds and Daniel Sermon) received five certifications. On Top of the World went Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum. I Bet My Life went Gold and Platinum.

Universal Music Publishing Group was the most publisher successful in July, with 85 certifications. Sony/ATV was a close second with 85. Warner Chappell had 63.

In fourth place was BMG with 50, Kobalt Music with 22, SONGS Music Publishing with 11, Reach Music with nine, and Pulse Music Publishing with six. Reservoir, Downtown Music Publishing Group and Wixen Music had three.

Scoring two certifications each were The Administration MP, Bicycle Music, Disney Music Group, Ole, Round Hill Music and The Royalty Network. Big Yellow Dog, Imagem and Meriwar Music had one each.

Ed Sheeran is currently on a break but he took time off last weekend with Snow Patrol to play at a wedding in Londonderry, Ireland. The bride was the younger sister of Snow Patrol guitarist Johnny McDaid, who brought along his celebrity fiancée Courteney Cox and her daughter Coco to the event.

The musicians serenaded the couple’s first dance with Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars, their 2006 hit which is a popular choice for couples for their first dance after their marriage. Also played later during a 30-minute set were Sheeran’s Tenerife Sea (which he wrote with McDaid) and a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition.

It hasn’t all been love and good times for Sheeran. Last month, the family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Marvin Gaye’s classic Let’s Get It On, filed a lawsuit claiming that his massive hit Thinking Out Loud (500 million streams on Spotify and i.2 billion views on YouTube) stole from the song.

In June, two British songwriters filed a suit saying that Sheeran’s hit Photograph bore similarities to a song they released in 2009.