Ed Sheeran’s takeover divides industry: are the singles charts “sick”?

Now that the dust has settled after the release of Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide), we can see exactly how significant its impact already is, as calls come from some corners of the industry to consider adjusting how streaming is factored into the charts.

Sheeran’s next cut was always going to be a hit, but thanks to changing consumption patterns, it has become a game-changing anomaly that has got the industry talking. Not only has it smashed Spotify streaming records, but due to the ways streaming now counts towards a variety of chart measurements, many “singles” charts have been dominated by tracks from ÷ that are, by any traditional definition of the word, not singles at all.

Naturally, you’ll find Sheeran featured heavily across the Australian Singles Report’s digital charts both locally and internationally. An indication of this: the 16 tracks that make up Divide generated a total of 56.7 million Spotify plays in the first 24 hours of its release, producing $5.92 million in streaming revenue.

As a result, singles Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill have more or less taken turns at #1 week by week on the Artist Top 50 – arguably one of the Singles Report’s most influential charts, which takes streaming data into account.

However, it’s not just the album’s official singles that are making a splash, but the entire work. This adds to a growing body of evidence that, in the current landscape, tracks no longer need to be marketed as clear-cut singles to have substantial charts impact.

Songs buried deep in the track listing are getting the same treatment as lead-off singles from Stargate and Sheppard, who both debuted in this week’s Artist Top 50 in amongst the avalanche of Sheeran tracks. In fact, Sheeran scores not one, not two, but eight debuts on the Artist Top 50, leading with Galway Girl at #25.

“Smash single Shape Of You is so big that it’s twice as popular as the week’s Billboard Hot 100 #2 track,” wrote Billboard US. “That means it doubles #2’s Bad & Boujee by Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert with at least a two-to-one charts points lead.”

As online streaming became more of a phenomenon and outright sales declined, there were calls for the charts to take the new shape of those numbers into account; now that it dominates listening habits, a backlash has begun to emerge. The sheer force of Sheeran’s success with this album has seen multiple industry commentators ask whether the current charting metrics need further adjustment.

Alison Wenham, chief executive of the independent music body Worldwide Independent Network, told Guardian UK that the charts’ Sheeranmania had a “chilling effect” on other artists’ chart performance.

“Having Ed Sheeran dominate virtually the whole of the Top 20 is indicative of the fact it is evolving and the rules will need to be examined fairly regularly in terms of the conversion – how many streams equals a download.”

Also on the Guardian, prominent critic Laura Snapes declared the Sheeran takeover showed that the charts were “sick“.

This begs the question: is the current system unfair to non-Sheerans of the chart world, or is it just a fact that sometimes an artist will spend a few weeks crushing all singles in their path to chart dominance? Does the algorithm through which charting numbers are formulated need to change how it weights rankings for popular artists that are garnering unprecedented streams?

TMN’s Charts Editor Daniel Respall is not buying the fairness argument; streaming has changed the nature of the singles charts whether Sheeran’s peers like it or not. “It’s about having a true representation of what’s happening, not what ought to be happening,” he says bluntly.

“If all the tracks in Sheeran’s new album are all being individually listened to millions of times, then music charts in their current form need to represent that.”

It’s not likely to be an everyday occurrence; ÷ was always tipped to be probably the biggest album of 2017, even if nobody quite saw this coming. But we are likely to see more of these sweeping chart takeovers occurring off the back of a new release from heavyweights like Ed Sheeran unless charting methods are again revamped – whether or not they should be.