Sheeran, whose distinctive acoustic sound mixes sound loops with beat-boxing and hip-hop rhythm, made his Glastonbury debut this year playing a total of 8 gigs over the weekend, including a headline set on the BBC Introducing stage, and one or two impromptu, guerrilla-style, performances for which he is becoming well known. Over the last two years, it is a combination of his hard work on the live music circuit and his engagement with social networking sites like Twitter and YouTube, that have built him a large underground following in the UK.

The reward for this hard work came at the beginning of the year when Sheeran signed a record contract with Atlantic Records, through which he releases his debut album, entitled + on 19th September. The first single from it, The A Team, went to number 3 in the charts the weekend before Glastonbury, and has been watched over 3.5m times on YouTube. It sold 58,000 copies in the first week, making it the highest selling, and charting, single of 2011 so far. Pretty impressive.

It was as a result of posting a music video for the song You Need Me, I Don’t Need You to YouTube, via the youth broadcasting website SB.TV in 2010, that Sheeran got his first big break in the form of an invitation to tour with mainstream UK rapper Example. And clearly YouTube continues to work well as a marketing tool for Sheeran, a fact reflected by the steep upward trend in the Musicmetric graph of his YouTube activity, below.

Sheeran also has a large following on Twitter – over 114,000 followers – and his success on this social media channel is helped by his personal engagement with his followers, to whom he can often be seen replying and chatting. The Musicimetric graph, below, shows activity on his Twitter and Facebook networks, the most recent peaks corresponding to the announcement that The A Team charted at number 3 last week.

Sheeran is by no means the first artist to use social media networking websites for DIY marketing campaigns, or even to engage more directly with fans. But he is one of a new breed of up and coming artists that understands the potential and importance of building a following this way – “social media has been a great help” he told the BBC, recently.

It is this following that has taken him into the Top 10 of the Glastonbury Band Tracker, where he is the only artist yet to release a major label album. Certainly, if the buzz continues to grow, which looks very likely, it won’t be long before Ed Sheeran becomes a mainstream act and he is headlining bigger festival stages around the world.

Toby Burton

While most teenagers are having their first crushes and worrying about spots, these guys are wondering whether their second album will go platinum…

Here for your delight are the most buzzed about youngsters on the Webiverse.

Click the artist’s pictures to see them in action…

Teenage Buzz

#1		Demi Lovato (17) She’s already had a number 1 album but then who hasn’t by 17… She’s also dating another Teen sensation Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers who miss out on this chart because they’re over the hill.
#2		Justin Bieber (16) Bieber fever. That’s what it’s called when you love Justin Bieber so much you cry… like this little girl here. To be honest I would’ve expected him to be Number 1 but he must’ve had a quiet week…
#3		Miranda Cosgrove (17) Miranda is a relative new comer only releasing her first album this year. You probably remember her from the Jack Black film School of Rock where she played the “bands” manager.
#4		Jasmine V (16) Jasmine got her big break when she sang the American national anthem at the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton fight. Interestingly she is managed in the Philippines by the “Pac-Man” himself Manny Pacquiao.
#5		Miley Cyrus (17) According to Miley’s record label she’s sold over 15 million records, she also appeared in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in The World. Yet she’s still not old enough to drink alcohol…
#6		Keke Palmer (16) This star hasn’t even had an album out yet! Justin’s the same age and he’s already released two albums… Although she does have her own Wal-Mart fashion line, so we’ll let her off.
#7		Jedward (18, 18) Only the young can get away with hair like that. In an effort to revitalise there fledgling pop careers, they’re doing a commercial for Shake ‘n’ Vac…
#8		Connie Talbot (9) Yep 9 years old and she’s already released 3 albums, and she still attends primary school. There are also plans in place to develop a video game based around this pint size pop star.
#9		Diane Vickers (18) Diane is a little bit of a late bloomer alongside the rest of this chart. However her debut single and album both went to number 1 in the UK.
#10		Care Bears on Fire (14, 14, 15) Not even punk is safe from the teenage invasion. With an edgy name and songs like Barbie Eat a Sandwich this is not your average teenage girl band.

This chart is based on a combination of online fan activity, online buzz and social network plays, as tracked by Musicmetric.

Click here to open in spotify

This weeks top ten are:

Lady Gaga
Owl City
Michael Jackson
Eminem
Foo Fighters
Aaliyah
Taylor Swift
Justin Bieber
Barbra Streisand
50 Cent

So get listening!