Ed Sheeran has officially ended his 15-year run with Warner Music, closing a chapter that began when he was a teenager couch-surfing and playing pub gigs in London.
In a statement published in Music Week, Sheeran recalled meeting Asylum Records’ Ed Howard at 18, signing his first contract after the No.5 Collaborations Project and building a career that transformed him from singer-songwriter to stadium-filling pop star.
“Over the past 15 years, I have released so much music and had so much success with this company. We have built something incredible together,” he wrote, adding that the decision was not about conflict but about change.
“It’s not a disgruntled artist leaving a record label type situation,” Sheeran explained. “It’s about a boy who started as a teenager in the business with different priorities, the father of two men who are now existing, who feels he needs a change and a change in the way he does things professionally.”
Ed Howard, now co-chairman of Atlantic Records UK, praised Sheeran’s journey: “From the couch-surfing teenager I met in 2009 to the global music icon he is today, Ed has spent the last 15 years showing the world what happens when unparalleled talent meets unwavering integrity. »
Howard expressed his support, saying he and Warner Music teams around the world are standing “squarely in his corner” as Sheeran begins his next chapter.
