If you thought there was something awfully familiar about Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" then let Conor Maynard and The Vamps remind you why this is the case.
In a video collaboration they have released yesterday, they run down a slew of hit songs that all fit to the music of Ed Sheeran's song. While some songs, like Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You GoGo", have been slightly altered to make them fit, most actually fit on there without any adjusting whatsoever.
Science has often proved that hit songs exist of a particular format. Though this format has altered slightly over the years, musically, it has been proven that the majority of us listeners have a strong preference for just a handful of chords. Ignoring the fact that there are hundreds more chords to choose from, most musicians stick to this rule.
Most listeners do too. We like the familiarity, predictable nature of songs. And repetition has become key the more time passes. So it's not a surprise that all songs actually really sound alike.
There have been many YouTube musicians proving this over and over again, by making various medleys and mash ups, but this collaboration makes it painfully clear again, and also proves that you can go further back in time with the songs you can draw from. After all, TLC stems from the 90s and Wham! from the 80s. I'm still waiting on the day someone can sing an Elvis Presley song over a song from today. LOL. (Songs from this usually have more chords and more changes than today's music, so this is pretty unlikely to happen anytime soon).
Ed Sheeran, himself, is probably just happy for the extra exposure. Not that he needs it. I don't know how his presale did in the rest of the world, but the Amsterdam tickets for his upcoming tour were sold out within a heartbeat.
The Vamps are also headed out to tour, but their stops will only be in the UK. Conor Maynard is uploading loads of sing-off videos to his YouTube channel, while storming the charts with "Are You Sure?".
