Photograph (song)
| Photographer | |
|---|---|
| Ed Sheeran | |
| publication | April 20, 2015 |
| length | 4:19 |
| Genre (s) | Acoustics - Pop |
| Author (s) | Ed Sheeran , Johnny McDaid , Martin Harrington, Tom Leonard |
| Producer (s) | Jeff Bhasker, Emile Haynie |
| Label | Asylum , Atlantic |
| album | × |
Photograph is a song by the British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran . It was released on April 20, 2015 as the fifth single from Sheeran's second studio album ×.
background
Photograph was written by Sheeran and Johnny McDaid , a member of Snow Patrol , in a Kansas hotel room during a Snow Patrol tour in May 2012 . Both were sitting in the hotel room while Sheeran for McDaids sister Lego built, McDaid played on his laptop a piano - Loop off, prompting Sheeran began to sing this music. After a while, Sheeran picked up his guitar and they both wrote the song within half an hour. Sheeran recorded different versions of Photograph , including with Jake Gosling, who had produced his debut album, and Rick Rubin, who produced other songs from his second music album. However, none of the versions fit for Sheeran, so he was supported by the music producer Jeff Bhasker. He worked on the song for a few months. Sheeran said he played a version by Photograph back in 2013 for a German radio station. However, this version was not recorded.
In June 2016, Sheeran was sued by songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard. They wrote the song Amazing for Matt Cardle in 2011 , which has similarities in melody and lyrics to Photograph . Sheeran, who admitted that he was inspired by the song, and the two prosecutors agreed to pay approximately $ 20 million in damages, and both songwriters are registered as co-authors of Photograph .
Musical and content
Photographer is an acoustic pop - ballad . The song, composed in four-four time and in E major , has a tempo of 108 beats per minute . Sheeran's vocal range extends from B3 to B5 in the song.
The song is structured in verse - chorus form. In terms of content, Photograph deals with the chronology of a long-distance relationship. The love between the two should be preserved in a photo so that both of them will always remember it. The lyrics were inspired by Sheeran's relationship with Nina Nesbitt at the time . By the time he wrote the song, he had been on tour with Snow Patrol for three months and was in a long-distance relationship.
- Refrain, original excerpt
|
- Refrain, German translation
|
Reviews
Photograph received mostly positive reviews. David Maurer from Laut.de remarks in the course of the album review on × that the song has the right balance between calm sensuality and passages with high recognition value and is therefore perfect for airplay . For Jennifer Depner from Plattentests.de "Sheeran will soon find its way back to its old strength when the acoustic piece slowly but steadily develops into a little mini-drama, but at most runs along the border to kitsch, but does not cross it". Photograph received negative criticism from Kevin Harley of The Independent : "Photograph stomps heavily through clichés about painful love," said the critic in the context of the album review.
Commercial win
Photograph achieved high chart positions worldwide. The song entered the German single charts for the first time as part of the album release by × on July 4, 2014 at number 64 and remained in the charts for a week. After the official single release, the song returned to the charts on May 15, 2015. With fourth place, the highest position was reached on September 25, 2015, and Photograph was able to hold onto this place for two weeks . In total, the song spent 15 weeks in the top 10 in Germany . Photograph reached the singles charts for the last time on January 13, 2017. For Sheeran this was the fifth top 10 success as a solo artist in Germany. For over 800,000 units sold in Germany, the song was awarded double platinum by the Federal Association of the Music Industry in 2018 . In the Ö3 Austria Top 40 and in the Swiss Hit Parade , Photograph was also able to achieve fourth place.
Photograph entered the UK singles charts on July 5, 2014. Although he missed the top 10 at number 15, the single was able to stay in these charts for a total of 90 weeks. Photographer reached up to September 2017, including premium streaming 1,347,966 units sold, has also been awarded thus the song with double platinum. On the Billboard Hot 100 , Sheeran achieved his third top 10 placement as a solo artist with this song. Photograph achieved a number one placement in Slovakia . The song reached further top 10 placements in Australia (9th place), Denmark (8th place), France (9th place) and in New Zealand (9th place).
Photograph was nominated in the Best Lyrics category at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards .
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
4th (59 weeks) | 59 |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
4th (47 weeks) | 47 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
4th (80 weeks) | 80 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
15th (92 weeks) | 92 |
 United States (Billboard)
|
10 (30 weeks) | 30th |
Awards for music sales
Photograph has been awarded 2 × gold and 35 × platinum worldwide. According to the awards, over 7.6 million units of the single were sold (including premium streaming).
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Australia (ARIA)
|
 5 × platinum
|
350,000 |
 Belgium (BEA)
|
 gold
|
15,000 |
 Denmark (IFPI)
|
3 × platinum
|
270,000 |
|
Germany (BVMI)
|
2 × platinum
|
800,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
|
5 × platinum
|
250,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
7 × platinum
|
560,000 |
 Mexico (AMPROFON)
|
gold
|
30,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
2 × platinum
|
30,000 |
|
Austria (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
30,000 |
 Sweden (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
40,000 |
|
Switzerland (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
30,000 |
 Spain (Promusicae)
|
2 × platinum
|
80,000 |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × platinum
|
1,347,966 |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
4 × platinum
|
4,000,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 35 × platinum |
7,685,000 |
Main article: Ed Sheeran / Music Sales Awards
Music video
The music video for Photograph was shot by Emil Nava. The music video shows private film recordings from Sheeran's childhood. According to Sheeran, he didn't have time to shoot a recent music video. Sheeran's father also found the old recordings and burned them on DVD as a Christmas present. Sheeran originally wanted to use the recordings for a documentary, but while watching it he decided to use the recordings for his music video. The music video was viewed over 970 million times on YouTube (as of June 2020).
At the 2016 Brit Awards , the music video for Photograph was nominated in the British Video of the Year category, but was beaten by Drag Me Down by One Direction .
Formats
Download
- Photographer - 3:43
Single CD (D / AT / CH - release: June 12, 2015)
- Photographer
- I will take you home
Remix
- Photograph ( Felix Jaehn Remix) - 3:22
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ed Sheeran - Photographer. Discogs , accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Ed Sheeran talks through new album. June 29, 2014, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Alexa Tietjen: Relive Ed Sheeran's Touching Performance of “Photograph” While You Wait for the Music Video to Drop. In: VH1 . April 22, 2015, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ^ Lewis Corner: Ed Sheeran: 'New song Photograph will change my career path'. In: Digital Spy. February 25, 2013, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Everything just stolen: Ed Sheeran and the “Photographer” theft. In: BigFM . April 12, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Hannah Ellis-Petersen: Ed Sheeran may regret Photograph that led to $ 20m copyright case. In: The Guardian . April 11, 2017, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Madeline Roth: Warning: Ed Sheeran's Next 'X' Single Will Probably Make You Cry. In: MTV . April 22, 2015, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ^ Photograph By Ed Sheeran - Digital Sheet Music. In: Musicnotes.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Lyrics Ed Sheeran - Photograph. In: Genius . Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ EXCLUSIVE: Ed Sheeran On Writing 'Photograph' ... In Just Ten Minutes! July 23, 2015, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ David Maurer: Multiplication instead of addition - thanks to Pharrell and Rick Rubin. In: Laut.de . Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Jenniger Depner: The Anti- Beaver . In: Plattentests.de . Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Kevin Harley: Album review: Ed Sheeran - X. In: The Independent . June 21, 2014, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Ed Sheeran - Photograph chart placement Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Ed Sheeran - Photograph chart placement Austria. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Ed Sheeran - Photographer chart placement Switzerland. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ a b The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed. In: The Official UK Charts Company . September 19, 2017, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ a b BPI Awards. bpi.co.uk, accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Ed Sheeran - Photograph chart placement United States. Billboard , accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Joe Lynch: iHeartRadio Music Awards Announce 2016 Nominees, Performers & New Categories. In: Billboard . February 9, 2016, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Photograph Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ ARIA single charts. ariacharts.com.au, accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ GOUD EN PLATINA - SINGLES 2016. ultratop.be, accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ^ Certificeringer. ifpi.dk, accessed on September 25, 2018 .
- ↑ Gold / platinum database. musikindustrie.de, accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ^ Certificazioni. fimi.it, accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ^ Gold / Platinum - Music Canada. Music Canada , accessed September 13, 2018 .
- ↑ AMPROFON Certificaciones. Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas , accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ NZ charts. nztop40.co.nz, accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Gold & Platinum. ifpi.at, accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ sverigetopplistan. sverigetopplistan.se, accessed May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ precious metal. hitparade.ch, accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Ed Sheeran - Photographer. elportaldemusica.es, accessed on May 10, 2018 .
- ^ RIAA Gold & Platinum. Recording Industry Association of America , accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Watch Ed Sheeran's Home Movies in 'Photograph' Video. In: Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Sheeran: I didn't cry at Photograph vid. May 20, 2015, accessed May 15, 2018 .
- ^ Ed Sheeran - Photograph (Official Music Video). May 9, 2015, accessed June 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Single Ed Sheeran - Photograph. In: Discogs . Retrieved May 15, 2018 .