It might have sold a million copies in just over two weeks when it was released back in March but it seems that people are pretty much over Ed Sheeran and his latest album, Divide.
According to figures from the site musicMagpie.co.uk, 38,471 copies of Ed's album on CD were traded-in to the site in just 48 hours over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. An unwanted stocking filler perhaps? Maybe the recipient chose to rip it and then had no need for the physical version? Or, God forbid, the ginger guitar ninja just wasn't their cup of tea and so they decided to get rid of the album as quickly as possible without having to offend granny by telling her that her gift was more like a prison sentence on the ears.
What is clear however is that there were a lot of people unhappy with their gifts this Christmas. Seeing a record high 2.6 million items traded-in over the two days, including tech, CDs, DVDs, video games, books and Lego, other CDs high up on the trade-in list included Metallica's self-titled album (25,403), Adele's 25 (24,189) and Queen's Greatest Hits (18,006).
While Divide proved to be the most traded CD, FIFA 17 was the most unwanted game - get FIFA 18 for Christmas by any chance? - with 24,924 copies traded, Deadpool was the most traded DVD (32,966) and the iPhone 6s was the most sold phone (3,728).
Liam Howley, Marketing Director at musicMagpie, said: “Divide by Ed Sheeran has done incredibly well this year. In the UK alone, the album had sold one million copies just 16 days after it was released in March, and sales have continued throughout the year. Nine months down the line, some people may have decided to let it go now they have listened to it as part of a clear out, or have decided to go down the digital route.”
Also commenting on the iPhone 6s trade-in numbers, Howley added: "The fact that two new iPhones were released just a few months ago has more than likely caused this spike, with many people getting the iPhone 8 or X for Christmas this year. Our tech-savvy consumers know there is no point holding on to unused tech, so by trading-in these devices, they can make a bit of extra cash to either spend on a treat for themselves, or save for a rainy day.”
We listed one of the songs from Ed Sheeran's Divide in our Top 15 Songs of 2017 list, take a look at which one made the cut here.
