By: Shanann Thompson

Singers are performers. They normally practice daily and employ professional coaches help them to be the best in their class/ category of music. Many singers write their own songs or have other artists writes songs for them. In addition many singers work as coaches or teachers. Singers are mostly hired on a per job basis to either sing, a consultant or judge in a singing competition

Ed Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter. He was brought up in Framingham, Suffolk and moved to London during 2008 to pursue a musical career. Sheeran was noticed by Elton John and Jamie Foxx when he released an independent extended play, No.5 Collaborations Project early in He then signed to Asylum Records. Sheeran went on to make two singles “The A Team” and “Lego House” certified quintuple platinum in the United Kingdom which were on his debut album “+” in the same year.

He won two BRIT Awards for Best British Male and British; also "The A Team" won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically during 2012.It was only during that year that Ed became known in the USA. Ed wrote songs for One Direction and appeared on Taylor Swift’s album “Red” and went on the “Red Tour” with her. At the 2013 Grammy Awards "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year and he was nominated for Best New Artist. Ed’s second album will be released in 2014.

The marketing manager takes care of the endorsement of the artists product and image and has to be strategic in their work. The manager makes sure that the artist keeps their current audience and that more keep coming. He/ She also oversees ticket sales, publicity, public relations, imaging, press conferences and general coverage They are in charge of making income from box office sales (including subscriptions) and meeting sales targets. This is basically what the job is about.

“The manager leads a marketing team, defines the marketing division’s goals and performance indicators, manages the marketing budget, advertising, direct mail, and media promotion, and liaises with the media regarding feature stories.” The Australian Guide to Careers in Music by Michael Hannan

Many Marketing mangers market products on social media sites such as twitter, my space, facebook and many others. Ed Sheeran however marketed his song “A Team” by playing selling tracks of his extended play No.5 Collaborations Project which the song was on at gigs and on ITunes. He also made his first appearance on SB. TV which is an online urban music video channel in which he got a large amount of views. Soon after Atlantic Records caught hold of him and he made him album “Plus” with “The A Team” on it.

“ The A Team” by Ed Sheeran made its debut on the UK Singles Chart at number three on 19 June The single fell from third to fifth, then down to sixth before it went back to being number three on its fourth charting week, where it spent three consecutive weeks. "The A Team" became the best selling debut single and the overall eighth best selling single of 2011, selling 801,000 copies. On the Scottish Singles and Irish Singles Chart“ The A Team” was number 2 and number 3 respectively. The song's final position on the Canadian Hot 100 was number 45 on 9 March 2013.

The Australian Singles Chart had the single at number thirty- two, on the 23 rd of October 2011 which then rose to number two for two weeks and has been certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association(ARIA) for selling 210,000 copies. On the New Zealand Singles Chart it started at number thirty-eight, on the 21 st of November 2011 which rose to number three and has been certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for selling 15,000 copies. Its first American chart entry on Billboard's component Adult Pop Songs was at number thirty-eight. On the Billboard Hot 100 it went from number 95 number 16.

A record producer manages and oversees the recording of an artist’s music. Record producers make sure that the finished product is brought up to its full potential. Good producers must understand every aspect of studio production because they help to shape the quality and sound that is needed to get the type of recording the artist is aiming for.

Port Blue was produced by Adam Young. It is a one-man project used for his experimental instrumental, ambient and post-rock productions. Young has released one album, The Airship in 2007, and an Extended Play, The Albatross in 2008 under his own name. Port Blue is Young's main project except for Owl City.

Marketing managers make strategies to market the performers product. The two need to work together because with the managers ideas the singer’s product would be marketed better than if the singer him/ herself did it. Managers also help the singer with all aspects of publicity. At the same time the manager needs the performer because that is where their income comes from. They need the business they receive from performers.

Record Producers produce the performers music. During recording the producer coaches the performers and oversees the recording. The producer helps the performer to make sure that the recording and music video is used to its full potential.

Between these two the music and the music video is brought out to its full potential. The producer makes sure that the video is of the best quality. While the manger makes sure that the product is sold at the highest price possible and makes sure that it is well advertised to make the most money out of the sale.

I think that Record Producers, Marketing Managers and Performers need to work together because they are all striving to make the singer’s product the best it can be and have the best sales possible. If they didn’t work together the product might not come out as well since the different people have different ideas on how to make the work better. If they compromise they would also be able to complete the project faster.

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