Ed Sheeran Leaves Warner Music After 15 Years
Ed Sheeran has ended his 15-year relationship with Warner Music. The artist initially signed with Warner’s Asylum imprint in 2011, following a meeting with Ed Howard (now Co-President of Atlantic UK) at a Bruno Mars concert in 2010. His albums were released in the United States through Warner’s Atlantic label.
At 35, Sheeran is recognized as one of the most successful artists of the last two decades.
He has sold more than 170 million copies of his eight studio albums worldwide, and has accumulated 126 billion global streams and 38 billion YouTube views.
In a statement to fans, Sheeran said, “I leave the company with SO much love and gratitude for everything we have achieved together. This isn’t a ‘disgruntled artist leaves record label’ type situation.”
Ed Howard also released a statement, saying, “On behalf of the wonderful Warner Music teams around the world that championed him over the years, I know we all stand squarely in his corner as Ed steps into his next chapter.”
Warner Music will continue to distribute Sheeran’s catalog. His earlier albums are owned by Warner, while newer releases are licensed to the label through Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man label under a long-term distribution deal.
Sheeran stated he first met Ed Howard at a show in Notting Hill when he was 18, and ended up staying at Howard’s home. He played Howard some of his music and discussed his aspirations. Sheeran initially was unaware Howard worked for a record label. Howard and Ben Cook, who ran Asylum at the time, attended many of Sheeran’s early performances. Following the release of his debut EP, ‘No.5 collaborations’, Sheeran signed a deal with the label.
“Over the last 15 years, I’ve put out so much music and had so much success with that company. We’ve built something amazing together and enjoyed such life changing stuff happening to us. My life is hugely different now to what it was when I was a teenager, and I’ve been feeling in my gut for a long time that a lot of things in my professional life need to change. I am, underneath it all, a singer songwriter who plays pub gigs. And I’ve sorta morphed into this pop star who plays stadiums over 15 years, it’s a super amazing thing to have happened but also a lot to get your head around.”
“I decided to leave Asylum / Warner last month. I leave the company with SO much love and gratitude for everything we have achieved together. This isn’t a ‘disgruntled artist leaves record label’ type situation. This is a boy who started as a teenager on the company with different priorities, to the father of 2 man who exists now, who feels like he needs a shift and change in the way he does things professionally. I love Ed Howard forever, I love Asylum forever, and the door is always open for the future. Thank you everyone across Warner worldwide who has worked on my projects over the last 15 years, it’s been an incredible journey. Excited to see where the next 15 years takes me. Loads of love to everyone x.”
This news comes at a time when Warner Music Group is forging first-of-its-kind deals and launching new artist development platforms.
