Ed Sheeran airplay falls by over 60% across Irish radio stations

It follows Macklemore's removal from Sheeran's tour over his pro-Palestine comments.

Today FM recorded the biggest drop, with Sheeran's average daily plays falling by 60.8% between the month of August and September thus far.

LMFM was down 51.7%, Classic Hits Radio 47%, Cork's 96FM 46.2%, RTÉ 2FM 42.4% and Spin 103.8 dropped 42.2%.

Across Irish radio, Sheeran's average daily plays fell by 28.2%, from 67.16 in August to 48.25 in September, and estimated daily audience impacts fell by around 40%.

Classic Hits Radio later confirmed it had removed Sheeran's music from its playlist "for the foreseeable future", citing listener feedback and the withdrawal of artists from the tour as the reasons for the decision.

However, the Radiomonitor figures do not establish why individual stations reduced Sheeran's airplay.

The figures come amid controversy surrounding Sheeran's Loop Tour after Macklemore was removed from the remaining US shows following his public support for Palestinians and comments about the situation in Gaza.

Several artists, including Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe and band Beoga, subsequently withdrew from the tour.

The controversy centred in part on Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft, who said Macklemore had crossed a line with his comments and that the rapper would not be allowed to perform at the venue.

Sheeran said he had tried to find a solution but ultimately accepted the decision to remove Macklemore from the tour.

The irony was that Sheeran's own Gillette Stadium shows were later cancelled because of severe weather.