Ed Sheeran is no longer part of Warner Music Group.
On Friday, the musician shared a newsletter with fans revealing he split from Atlantic Records and Asylum Records last month after 15 years.
He is now officially an independent artist and will release his music through his own label, Gingerbread Man Records.
“This isn’t a ‘disgruntled artist leaves record label’ type situation,” Sheeran wrote.
“This is a boy who started as a teenager in the company with different priorities, to the father-of-two man who exists now, who feels like he needs a shift and change in the way he does things professionally.”
The Bad Habits singer landed with Warner after a chance meeting with Ed Howard, formerly head of A&R for Asylum, at a gig in Notting Hill in 2009, according to Rolling Stone.
He released his first album, Plus, under Atlantic/Asylum in September 2011. The labels would go on to oversee the release of six more albums, including Multiply, Divide, Subtract, Equals, and the new series starter, Play. During this stretch of time, Sheeran went from couch surfing pub player to one of the biggest pop stars of his generation.
“Over the past 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,” Sheeran wrote.
“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.”
Warner Music Group shared in a statement via Music Week, “Warner Music Group is proud to have supported Ed through his discovery and remarkable rise over the past 15 years and grateful for his continued partnership. Everyone in the Warner Music family wishes Ed the very best as he embarks on the next chapter of his extraordinary artistic journey.”
In his note, Sheeran wrote, “I leave the company with so much love and gratitude for everything we have achieved together.”
