It has always been the case that some music artists are more popular than others, but what Ed Sheeran has done over the past week is beyond belief.
It is leading some people to question whether the Official Chart is fit for purpose anymore.
The singer secured nine of the top ten tracks on the singles chart last week – the most anyone had ever done before that was four.
Changes have quite rightly been made to the charts over recent years because of the way people consume music.
Streams now play a major role in how success is measured, but there is some debate over whether it is just the paid streams that should be counted, and how many streams account for one ‘purchase’ of a song.
It looks like some fine-tuning may be needed in terms of how streaming is counted towards the official chart, but there is no doubt in my mind that it needs to be included.
Gone are the days when people just buy singles, and the charts need to reflect this.
Rather than the charts being broken, I think what is more likely is that Ed Sheeran really is extremely popular.
He has timed the release of the album to absolute perfection. With a lot of artists gunning for the number one slot at Christmas, Ed Sheeran released Divide in January – a time when traditionally album sales drop off.
His year off has increased the clamour of people wanting to buy his music, so I think it is a stroke of genius in terms of the timing of the release of the album.
His style encompasses such a huge diversity of tastes as well, which helps.
I hope this success doesn’t continue for too long though, and I don’t mean that in a nasty way.
There comes a point when other artists need to be recognised for their good work, and in the long run it wouldn’t be good for music to just have one or two artists in the top echelons of the charts all the time.
Fair play to Mr Sheeran for now though – it’s a hard-earned success which he richly deserves, judging by the hard work he seems to put in to his career.