Ed Sheeran

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was born in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. After dropping out of school at 16, he moved to London the following year, in 2008, to pursue a career in music. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (read as "plus"), was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified six-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.

Sheeran's popularity abroad began in 2012. In the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John. He spent much of 2013 opening for Swift's The Red Tour in North America dates. In late 2013, he performed three sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden as a headline act. He was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2014 Grammy Awards.

Selena Gomez

Selena Marie Gomez (/səˈliːnə məˈriː ˈɡoʊmɛz/ sə-LEE-nə mə-REE GOH-mez;Spanish pronunciation: [seˈlena ˈɣomes]; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas, she was first featured on the children's series Barney & Friends in the early 2000s. In 2007, Gomez came to prominence after being cast in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, in which she starred as the lead character, Alex Russo, until its conclusion in 2012. She formed the band Selena Gomez & the Scene after signing a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2008; they released the studio albums Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011) before beginning a hiatus in 2012.

Gomez entered the film industry with star billings in feature films including Ramona and Beezus (2010), Monte Carlo (2011), and Hotel Transylvania (2012). She embraced an increasingly mature public image with her star billing in the film Spring Breakers (2013) and her 2013 debut solo studio album, Stars Dance. The latter project debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and included the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single "Come & Get It." Gomez was released from her recording contract with Hollywood Records following the completion of her compilation album For You (2014). She subsequently signed with Interscope Records to continue work on her sophomore studio album, Revival (2015). It debuted at number one in the US and featured the top-five singles "Good for You" and "Same Old Love" and the top-ten single "Hands to Myself."

Christina Perri

Christina Judith Perri (born August 19, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Her debut single "Jar of Hearts" charted after it was featured on the Fox television show So You Think You Can Dance in 2010. The single went on to sell over 3 million copies in the United States and was a hit around the world. In the UK, it reached number three on the charts and spent over three months in the UK Top 40. A few months later, Perri released her first extended play, The Ocean Way Sessions.

After "Jar of Hearts" began to gather a large amount of attention, Perri signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. Her debut album, Lovestrong, was released on May 10, 2011. In 2012, she wrote and recorded "A Thousand Years" for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and it appears on the accompanying soundtrack. The song went on to sell over 4 million copies in the United States, being certified 4× platinum. Her second EP, A Very Merry Perri Christmas, was released in October 2012. Her second studio album, Head or Heart, was released on April 1, 2014. Its lead single, "Human", was released on November 18, 2013.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Greatest hits album

A greatest hits album, sometimes called a "best of" album or a catalog album, is a compilation of songs by a particular artist or band. Most often the track list contains previously released recordings with a high degree of notability. However, to increase the appeal, especially to people who already own the original release, it is common to include remixes and/or alternate takes of popular songs; even new material (previously unreleased). At times a greatest hits compilation is the original release for songs that have themselves been released as a single and charted successfully.

Notable compilations

Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a solo artist; all of the songs on it are presented in different versions than the original hit versions. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a group and also one of the ten best selling albums in history. Greatest hits albums are typically produced after an artist has had enough successful songs to fill out an album release. Some artists, such as Mariah Carey, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Kenny Rogers, Aerosmith, Kiss, U2, Dolly Parton, Journey, Los Tigres del Norte, Queen, Kylie Minogue and Billy Joel, have released multiple greatest hits albums through their long careers. Some greatest hits albums are released only at the end of the artist or group's career. For example, My Chemical Romance released a greatest hits album after they disbanded. Other artists, like Eminem have released hits albums in the center of their success. He released Curtain Call: The Hits in 2005 and then Shady XV as a compilation album in 2014.