British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has parted ways with Warner Music Group after 15 years. He made the announcement on Friday, May 22, through an email sent directly to his fans. In the letter, Sheeran confirmed that he had already left the label about a month before going public with the news.
Sheeran was clear that the split was not driven by conflict. “This isn’t a ‘disgruntled artist leaves record label’ type situation,” he wrote. He described himself as someone who joined the company as a teenager and has since grown into a different person, now a father of two, who feels the need for a professional change.
Warner Music Group responded with a statement calling Sheeran’s time with the label an “incredible journey” and said it was “proud to have supported Ed through his discovery and remarkable rise over the past 15 years.”
How it all began
Sheeran signed with Asylum Records, a Warner Music subsidiary in the UK, in 2011. He was 18 at the time. Ed Howard, then head of Asylum UK, signed him after meeting the young artist at a show in Notting Hill. Sheeran has spoken about how he played Howard a bunch of songs and chatted about his goals for the future. That conversation led to a deal that would span eight studio albums and over a decade.
His albums were released through Atlantic Records in the United States, also a Warner label.
A career defined by numbers
The scale of what Sheeran achieved under Warner is hard to overstate. According to Music Week, his run at the label produced 170 million albums sold worldwide, 126 billion global streams, 38 billion YouTube views, and 14 tracks in Spotify’s Billions Club.
In the US, Billboard data shows Sheeran landed four No. 1 albums and 60 songs on the Hot 100, including nine top 10s. His 2017 single “Shape of You” sat at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for 12 weeks and spent 59 weeks on the chart in total. His album “Divide” from the same year is one of the most commercially successful releases of the streaming era, with nearly 40 million album-equivalent units.
In the UK, he has 13 No. 1 singles, nine No. 1 albums, and 53 platinum and multi-platinum singles.
Luminate data shows Sheeran has amassed 25.9 million equivalent album units in the United States since his debut, including over 32 billion streams and 5.8 million album sales.
The catalogue stays at Warner
Despite the departure, Sheeran’s existing catalogue remains with Warner Music. The company holds the rights to his earlier albums and has long-term licenses for his two most recent releases. His 2023 album “Autumn Variations” and 2025’s “Play” were both released on his own label, Gingerbread Man Records, under licence to Warner’s Atlantic label. Those licensing arrangements remain in place.
Warner said in its statement that Sheeran’s catalogue “continues to be a weekly chart presence thanks to consistent streaming consumption and radio airplay.”
What changed internally at Warner
Several key executives who worked closely with Sheeran during his peak years have since left Warner. Former Warner recorded-music chief Max Lousada and former Atlantic Music Group CEO Julie Greenwald both departed the company. Greenwald recently announced the launch of a new record label, 26.2, through Sony Music. These departures may have contributed to Sheeran’s sense that a professional shift was necessary.
A representative for Universal Music Group did not confirm or deny reports that Sheeran has struck a new deal with them.
His most recent work and a planned series
Sheeran’s latest album “Play,” released in September 2025, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in the US, making it his first album in over a decade not to reach No. 1.
The album is the first of a planned series of five studio albums named after media control symbols: Play, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop.
He has also mentioned a sixth album, titled Eject, which he wants released posthumously.
The India connection: ‘Sapphire’ and Arijit Singh
For Indian fans, Sheeran’s departure from Warner comes after one of the most significant moments in his musical relationship with the country.
Also Read: Arijit Singh: How a Murshidabad boy became India’s emotional default until he needed room to breathe
In 2025, Sheeran released single “Sapphire” from “Play” album. The song became the first English-language track to top Spotify India since 2021. Its music video, featuring a cameo by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and recorded across Indian locations during Sheeran’s tour, crossed 130 million YouTube views.
The song also marked a landmark collaboration with Arijit Singh, one of India’s most-streamed artists. Sheeran travelled to Singh’s hometown of Jiaganj Azimganj in West Bengal to record with him. He called the trip “a pilgrimage of music.” The two artists released a remix of “Sapphire” in July 2025 that blended English, Hindi, and Punjabi vocals.
Arijit Singh, who has sung over 400 songs across Indian languages, overtook Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran himself as Spotify’s most followed artist globally in July 2025 by reaching 151 million followers.
Sheeran finished recording parts of “Play” in Goa working with Indian musicians. He also performed multiple India tour dates in early 2025 including shows in Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai following sold-out concert at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Race Course in March 2024.