Ed Sheeran was the UK's most-played artist of 2021, Bad Habits the most-played song

Activision Blizzard, with the company’s Albany branch (formerly Vicarious Visions) making the bid.This makes the Albany QA branch the second potential union at the company, after the same department at Raven Software won its union election bid back in May. Called Game Workers Alliance (GWA) Albany, the new union issued a statement last night (July 19) via Twitter:“QA is currently an undervalued discipline in the games and software industries.

Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa have announced plans to launch a music festival in Ghana.The rappers are set to launch The Black Star Line Festival on January 6, 2023 in Accra, Ghana’s Black Star Square.“Everything we’re doing is with the goal of uniting and building a bridge between black people of the diaspora and the globe, with the continent,” Mensa said in a statement (via Pitchfork).

Taylor Swift fans will be hitting repeat on her new single, «Carolina,» to kick off the weekend. The 32-year-old singer released the track at midnight on Friday and the ballad is haunting. «About a year and half ago I wrote a song about an incredible story, the story of a girl who always lived on the outside, looking in. Figuratively and literally,» Swift detailed in an Instagram post with the song. «The juxtaposition of her loneliness and independence.

The Late Late Show With James Corden has announced a star-studded line-up for its upcoming week of UK-based episodes.Broadcasting from Freemasons’ Hall in London, the new batch of special episodes will air on Sky Comedy from Tuesday, June 28 to Friday, July 1.The esteemed guests appearing on the show include President Joe Biden, Vin Diesel (Fast And Furious), Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Ed Sheeran, Jamie Dornan (Belfast), John Boyega (Star Wars), David Harbour (Stranger Things), Alanis Morissette, Sam Smith and Tessa Thompson (Thor: Love and Thunder, Westworld).A description for one of the episodes reads: “James Corden immerses himself into the heart of American politics in his most prestigious ‘Take a Break’ segment yet when he fills in as the assistant to President of the United States Joe Biden, among other important duties.”While appearing as a guest on the show, Lizzo will also feature in a new addition of Carpool Karaoke.The upcoming episodes will mark Corden’s final season as the show’s host, with the presenter previously confirming that he’ll return to the UK full-time once he finishes in spring 2023 [via Variety].Corden first announced his decision to leave the chat show back in April this year.“This will be my last year hosting the show,” he said in a statement at the time. “When I started this journey, it was always going to be just that.

Taylor Swift's new song Carolina will be released tomorrow morning UK time, it's been announced.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large“The Late Late Show with James Corden” will head to London next week with episodes featuring guests including President Joe Biden, Vin Diesel, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran and a Carpool Karaoke featuring Lizzo.Also scheduled: John Boyega, Jamie Dornan, David Harbour, Alanis Morissette, Sam Smith and Tessa Thompson. This marks the first time “The Late Late Show” has been in London since 2019 (due to the pandemic), and its fourth trip there overall. But it’s also the show’s final trip to Blighty before Corden ends his late night run next spring.

Ed Sheeran and his ‘Shape Of You’ co-writers have been awarded more than £900,000 in legal costs following their win in the headline-grabbing song-theft case in the London high court in relation to that work.Sheeran and his collaborators Johnny McDaid and Steven McCutcheon were accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’, by singer Sami Chokri, when they wrote ‘Shape Of You’ in autumn 2016. The allegations were mainly based on a musical segment shared by the two songs, in which Chokri’s lyrics went “oh why, oh why, oh why, oh”, while Sheeran sang “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I”.Chokri reckoned that Sheeran had got a copy of his track via mutual contacts in the music industry, while his legal team argued that the similarities between the two songs were so striking that it was “highly improbable” they’d been independently created.But the Sheeran side countered that there was no firm evidence at all that the star had had access to Chokri’s work, while – they insisted – the musical segment shared by the two songs was commonplace in pop music,In the end the judge hearing the case, Antony Zacaroli, ruled very much in Sheeran’s favour.

K.J. Yossman Ed Sheeran has scored a second victory in his recent copyright trial after a British judge awarded the singer over $1.1 million in costs.The sum represents approximately 90% of Sheeran’s legal bill.Explaining his decision to award Sheeran such substantial costs, Judge Antony Zacaroli wrote in his judgment: “The starting point is to identify the winners and losers in the action because the general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays the costs of the successful party… There is no dispute as to this: [Sheeran] undoubtedly won and won on every substantial point.”In April, Judge Zacaroli ruled that Sheeran had not plagiarised a 2015 song titled “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri in his hit “Shape of You.” Sheeran co-wrote “Shape of You” alongside Snow Patrol singer Johnny McDaid and producer Steve Mac (during the trial he used his legal name of Steven McCutcheon), who were co-claimants in the action.Chokri’s legal team had argued that, through a publicity campaign and mutual friends including SBTV founder Jamal Edwards (who unexpectedly died shortly before the trial), Sheeran had had the opportunity to listen to – and plagiarize – Chokri’s track.

Ed Sheeran and two of his songwriting partners, Steven McCutcheon and Snow Patrol‘s John McDaid, have been awarded £900,000 in legal costs following a High Court copyright win.The three artists – who worked together on Sheeran’s 2017 single ‘Shape Of You’ – had been accused of lifting from a song, ‘Oh Why’, by musicians Sami Chokri (aka Sami Switch) and Ross O’Donoghue. The pair claimed Sheeran’s song featured “particular lines and phrases” similar to their own song, calling him “a magpie”.Sheeran, McCutcheon and McDaid denied accusations of plagiarism, with the former saying in his testimony on March 7: “I have always tried to be completely fair in crediting anyone who makes any contribution to any song I write.” McDaid, in his testimony, called the idea of plagiarism “abhorrent”.On April 6, the justice in the case ruled in favour of Sheeran, saying he “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape Of You’.Yesterday (June 21), Justice Zacaroli awarded Sheeran and his co-writers £916,200.

Ed Sheeran and his co-songwriters have been awarded over £900,000 in legal costs after winning their High Court copyright trial over the hit Shape Of You earlier this year.At a trial in March, the singer and co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, faced accusations that their track ripped off a 2015 song by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.However, Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded Mr Sheeran ‘neither deliberately nor subconsciously’ copied a phrase in the song.Mr Sheeran, his co-authors and their music companies originally launched legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue’s copyright.Two months later, Mr Chokri – a grime artist who performs under the name Sami Switch – and Mr O’Donoghue issued their own claim for ‘copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement’. The pair had alleged that an ‘Oh I’ hook in Shape Of You is ‘strikingly similar’ to an ‘Oh Why’ refrain in their own track.But in his previous judgment, Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded: ‘Mr Sheeran had not heard Oh Why and in any event that he did not deliberately copy the Oh I phrase from the Oh Why hook.’He dismissed the counterclaim and granted a declaration to Mr Sheeran and his fellow songwriters that they had not infringed the copyright in Oh Why.Following the ruling, lawyers for Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue had said that Mr Sheeran and the other claimants should pay their own legal costs, claiming they had failed to provide documents and demonstrated ‘awkwardness and opacity’.

Ed Sheeran suffered a guitar fail live on stage in front of 60,000 fans as the 'battery pack died' preventing him to performing during his Manchester show on Monday.  The singer, 31, was performing at the Etihad Stadium in front of 60,000 fans when his guitar suddenly malfunctioned and stopped working.

supports HTML5 videoEd Sheeran had some frustrating technical difficulties while performing to a massive crowd in Manchester.The hitmaker, who recently welcomed a second daughter with wife Cherry Seaborn, was playing to a 60,000-strong crowd on Monday when he ran into a bit of trouble.In the middle of a song, Ed’s guitar – a fairly important part of the concert – began malfunctioning.The Shape of You singer, 31, was just a few songs into his set at the Etihad Stadium when his signature instrument gave up.Ed – well-known for his stripped-back performances, many of which feature just him and his guitar – was forced to stop the concert and ask his crew for a new guitar.In a video captured by a fan, the musician, who is on a rotating stage, can be seen apologising to fans on stage as he suggests the ‘battery’ on his guitar ran out.‘My guitar keeps switching off or something,’ he calls out on the microphone to his crew. ‘Can I get another guitar?’He adds to the crowd: ‘Sorry guys, I think the battery’s gone.’The video was captured by fan Sarah Thomason, 44, who was attending the concert.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBeyonce just can’t make it easy: Just hours after she’d announced that “Break My Soul,” the first single from her forthcoming seventh solo studio album “Renaissance,” would be dropping tonight at midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT, it emerged on Tidal — yes, the streaming service co-owned by her husband, Jay-Z —three hours early.All of that noise notwithstanding, it’s the Beyonce jam fans have been waiting for: A driving dance track co-produced by the “Single Ladies” team of Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, with a plinking, insistent hook, a hot beat and a near-unintelligible, dancehall-like voice dropping in and out of the mix.“Release your anger/ Release your mind/ Release the time… Release the stress/ Forget the rest,” the voice intones.

Daily Lowdown from HELLO! In today's episode, we're discussing Drake responding to the mixed reviews his new album has received, and Harry Styles wowing crowds at his Wembley concert when he helped a fan come out as gay.  MORE: My Policeman: First look at Harry Styles and The Crown star's film released - and it looks amazingNot only that, Kate Bush is set to land another week at number one with her iconic song, Running Up That Hill, and Ed Sheeran breaks another record.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBeyonce will drop “Break My Soul,” the first single from her forthcoming seventh solo studio album “Renaissance,” tonight at midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT, the singer announced on social media Monday morning.

Ed Sheeran has been crowned as the most-played artist from the UK in 2021, with ‘Bad Habits’ also the most-played single of last year.The singer-songwriter claimed the same double in 2017 with the album ‘÷’ and song ‘Shape Of You’. 2022 marks his fourth time in fifth years to be the most-played artist in the country, only beaten by Dua Lipa in 2020.Figures from the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) show the top 10 singles of the year, which also features songs by The Weeknd, Coldplay and Years & Years.Joining Sheeran in the top 10 artists list are Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. You can see both lists below.1.

ED Sheeran has made history by becoming the first musician to claim a double accolade in two different years. Sheeran, 31, was the most played artist of 2021 in the UK, and also had the year’s most played single with Bad Habits.

Ed Sheeran lookalike had to be moved to safety at one of the singer's gigs at the weekend, after fans surrounded the lookalike and asked for selfies.Wes Byrne, who has an uncanny resemblance to the Bad Habits singer, bought a ticket for Ed Sheeran's concert at Manchester's Etihad Stadium.However, he was mobbed by fans on his way to the bathroom, after they noticed his striking resemblance to the music superstar - and surrounded him for selfies.The growing crowd was feared to be creating a fire risk and security guards had to take quick action to move Wes to a different area of the stadium for his safety.Speaking about the moment, Wes told The Mirror: "I got lots of looks when I first walked in, but it wasn’t until the first person asked for a selfie that the floodgates opened."Nearly everyone knew I was a lookalike, although a few kids thought I was the real Ed."About 15 minutes before Ed came on stage, the queue for selfies with me was all the way down a line of steps and out an exit, so security told us to go with them to some executive seats.Wes, his sister and his nephew were moved from their seats to the VIP area - where tickets sell for over £1,000 - with Wes adding: "We weren’t complaining – it was a much better view."Alongside his day job, it is reported that Wes is also hired for extra work because of his resemblance to the singer, and is often stopped on the streets for selfies by fans of the singer.That's not all, as Wes was also invited to take part in an advertising campaign for Heinz Tomato Ketchup in 2019, where he met Ed Sheeran on set - standing in for the star in some of the shots.Wes said: "I was called in for shots that were meant to be the side and back of his head." For more of the latest showbiz

Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran on a track. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, Terry said: "Our dream collab, there are a few artists that inspire us, ranging over different genres, I would say Old Skool would be, Stevie Wonder and Elton John.

An email saying "We hope you enjoyed Ed Sheeran " has been sent to people who had tickets cancelled for the chart-topper's gig at Hampden Park last night.

Good evening and welcome to Friday’s news briefing.