Ed Sheeran named UK’s most played artist of the year for seventh time

Ed Sheeran topped PPL’s list of most played artist for the seventh time in nine years – and had the second most played song. Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Billboard/Getty Images

Britons rule the airwaves in the UK, with Ed Sheeran taking the most played spot and homegrown artists dominating the top 10 in a chart compiled by the music licensing company PPL.

For Yorkshire-born and Suffolk-raised Sheeran, 33, it is the seventh time in nine years he has topped the list of music used across UK radio, TV and in public places.