Tom Grennan says Ed Sheeran has changed the way record labels look at male pop stars.
The ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’ singer songwriter has opened up about the impact the ‘Shape of You’ hitmaker has had on the industry, and he explained how it has brought an end to the idea of male solo acts being marketed towards teenage girls and their mothers.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, he said: "He showed how you could sell to men and women, and not in a forcefully sexual way."
Tom, 23, also discussed the influence the influx of singer songwriters can have on society as a whole, as they help men realise they should "drop the bravado" and be open about their feelings.
He explained: "There’s an idea in society that men have to be really masculine, tough and unemotional and put on a hard exterior.
"I’m sometimes spoken about as being a ‘geezer’, which is weird to me as I’m just a product of my environment – a working-class lad from Bedford. But if that helps other ‘geezers’ talk openly and drop the bravado, then great."
Meanwhile, Tom recently revealed he is currently stockpiling tracks – some left over from his debut LP ‘Lighting Matches’ and others he’s been penning in Los Angeles – for his next album, and the main themes are about how his life has changed since becoming famous and falling in love.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I’m out in LA, writing and getting songs together.
"I’m abut 30 demos in so I’ve got a good stack of tunes there but I want to wrote at least another 30, maybe 40 actually, just so I have a good amount of material to dive into and see what’s right for the album I want to make. "
On what he’s been writing about, he said: "Life, what I’m going through and how life has changed, there’s a bit of love in there, and there’s a bit of heartbreak in there, all sorts."
Tom Grennan says Ed Sheeran has changed perception of male pop stars
