Ed Sheeran is facing backlash after he criticized music reviews in his newest interview with Rolling Stone ahead of his fifth studio album, Subtract.
He cited the age of streaming as his reasoning for his point, saying, “Why do you need to read a review? Listen to it. It’s freely available! Make up your own mind. I would never read an album review and go, ‘I’m not gonna listen to that now.'”
While Sheeran is right about the wide accessibility that streaming allows in music, many fans had a negative reaction to the statement.
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“Ok, except music critics aren’t just there for ppl to decide what to listen to?? Taking a deeper look at music thru a deeper critical lens, both positive and negative, is a celebration of music as a whole, if anything,” one fan tweeted.
Someone else wrote on Twitter, “I disagree with Ed Sheeran on the need for reviews, but music critics acting shocked and appalled he doesn’t see the value in their work when they’ve absolutely annihilated his work … is a bit dumb.”
“Criticism is objective. It SHOULDN’T make up your mind for you. reviews are accounts of human experience with material, which is the entire purpose of that material’s creation in the first place,” another person said.
One person pointed out that many reviews are helpful to independent and rising artists who don’t get mainstream exposure.
“I’ll keep trying to shine a light on independent artists so they can be potentially opened up to a bigger audience,” they tweeted.
However, some agreed with Sheeran, like one person who tweeted, “EXACTLY! My ears are my critic!”
“So true,” someone else agreed. “Who’s out here reading music reviews before actually listening to the music???”
Someone else simply said, “He’s not wrong.”
See more Twitter reactions, below: