Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud breaks streaming record

Ed Sheeran appears to be on a roll as he breaks another Official Charts record this week.

The singer/songwriter’s chart-topping track Thinking Out Loud now holds the title as the most-streamed song in a single week.

Despite slipping a place to Number 2 on this week’s tally, the acoustic ballad was streamed 1,638,000 times in the last seven days, beating the record previously held by Mr Probz’s Waves at 1,632,000 streams.

21% of Thinking Out Loud’s chart sales this week were attributed to streams. By comparison, streams of Cheryl’s I Don’t Care – which entered at Number 1 – accounted for 5% of its chart sales. This falls in line with the current trend of brand new tracks being boosted initially by downloads, while older songs tend to mature over a few weeks on streaming services as awareness of the song grows.

Last week, Ed claimed the title for longest ever ascent to Number 1 with Thinking Out Loud, spending a mammoth 19 unbroken weeks in the Top 40 before reaching the top spot. The feat bucks the trend in recent years of songs entering at Number 1 on their first week of release.

Of the song’s success, Ed told OfficialCharts.com: "I’m not used to having Number 1 singles and this is my favourite song on the album, my favourite song I’ve written, so I’m really proud it’s getting this recognition."

Thinking Out Loud features on Ed’s latest LP X, which is currently the biggest selling artist album of the year. Check out the full Top 40 list here.

Read: Ed Sheeran live at London's O2 Arena - 'A spectacularly minimal show'