By Mesfin Fekadu, AP Music Writer | Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — In just two years, English singer Ed Sheeran has gone from the small stage to the big league.
The 22-year-old earned a gold album with his 2011 debut, “+,” and his Top 20 hit, “The A Team,” was nominated for song of the year at the Grammy Awards, but his biggest achievement comes this week: He is performing three shows at the famed Madison Square Garden.
Sheeran is part of a breed of newer and lesser known acts who are able to sell out top venues, even if they aren’t pushing millions and millions of albums and singles like Eminem and Justin Timberlake, or dominating with chart-topping tracks and radio airplay like Katy Perry or Rihanna.
Pop-rock band Passion Pit, who released their sophomore album last year, sold out MSG earlier this year, and the Weeknd, the eerie, reclusive R&B singer, performed two sold-out nights at Radio City Music Hall to a feverish crowd this month. Gotye, though he had last year’s biggest hit with “Somebody That I Used to Know” and a gold album, performed at the 9,000-seat Radio City after playing NYC’s Terminal 5, with a third of that capacity, six months prior. And the English indie band the xx, critically acclaimed but fairly unknown outside of the music industry, performed two shows at Radio City last month.
“We played the Mercury Lounge like a year and a half ago, and to go from like a 150-capacity venue to, I think it’s 18,000 at MSG — it’s cool,” said Sheeran, who will play his first sold-out MSG on Tuesday.
For that he might thank his fans on Twitter — where Sheeran has more than 8 million followers — and the support of Taylor Swift and One Direction, whom he opened for and collaborated with.
“With social media playing an increasing role, it’s possible for an artist to go from totally unknown to significant enough popularity to sell an arena like Madison Square Garden,” said Gary Bongiovanni, the president and editor-in-chief of concert trade magazine Pollstar.
Further reading: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/newer-budding-music-acts-sell-105830339.html
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