He may be one of the UK’s most popular and exportable music stars but Ed Sheeran seems to also know his own mind. Despite a mass following on such as Instagram and Twitter, which clearly help to foster the loyalty of his ardent fans, he has made the brave decision to step away from the Social media spotlight for as long as a year.
Note to his fans
Sheeran’s note to his fans conveyed the message that he was taking time away “from my phone, emails and all social media for a while.” After what he described as “an amazing ride over the past five years”, he was concerned that his view of the world was akin to seeing it “through a screen and not my eyes.”
Usual to keep promotion going
The Music business can be a fickle industry at the best of times and once a musician has cracked the market, it is often advisable for them to continue their promotion by whatever means are available.
Keeping themselves in the public eye can be a way of continuing the income stream from their music and ensuring that interest in their ‘brand’ is maintained.
Tricky balance
Balancing that consideration with keeping the ideas fresh and the music vibrant though can be tricky after a prolonged spell exposed to the full glare of the media spotlight. His musical development may well benefit from the notion that Sheeran intends to “travel the world and see everything I missed.”
Third album “on its way”
Clearly Sheeran intends to let his music do the talking though, with the tantalising message to his fans that a promised third album is “on its way” and could well be the “best thing” that he has produced so far.
After topping the British charts with his tracks “Sing” and “Thinking Out Loud” in recent years, there is good reason to think that the Yorkshire-born star has even more to offer in the future.
Massive fan-base
Fans were also left to hang on his promise that he will be back around next autumn. With an estimated 5.5 million people following the artist on Instagram and a colossal 16 million tuning in to his thoughts and observations on Twitter, his is the kind of fan-base many prosperous companies can only dream of.
Hopefully the flame-haired 24-year-old will come back stronger than ever and build on the global success of his ‘X’ album, which enjoyed either gold or platinum sales in as many as 15 countries.
