First they came for Maroon 5.
Now it’s Ed Sheeran’s turn.
A generational cycle in pop music has ended apparently.
Sheeran’s new album, “Play,” has sold just 50,000 copies in downloads and CDs. Another 150,000 copies are accounted for by streaming.
Sheeran is now selling one tenth of his zenith moment from a decade ago. He’s still talented, but his audience has moved on.
It doesn’t help that there’s no breakout single from “Play.” The album is being swept away in short order.
The same thing happened to Maroon 5 this year. Their new album, called “Love is Like,” was put to sleep on the day it arrived. Total sales were about 50,000 in all formats.
Audiences age out, and if music artists don’t keep up with the times, they head to the nostalgia bin. Let’s say they get Three Dog Night-ed.
Justin Bieber released his “Swag” album twice and had a similar commercial response. He’s sold around 580,000 copies, almost all from streaming. No real hits from the album except for a minor one, “Daisies.” He added 12 songs and sent it out again and no one cared.
Bieber can console himself with a reported (maybe) $10 million fee to play Coachella in the spring.
The pop charts are a cruel and forbidding mistress, that’s for sure.
