Who Actually Controls the Stage? The Real Macklemore–Ed Sheeran Fight
The Macklemore - Ed Sheeran debacle has engulfed the internet over the past 48 hours.
And rather than just call one side a piece of shit like the long line of celebrities/influencers wrestling for trickle-down Macklemore clout, I’ll try to offer some unsolicited, semi-meaningful insight.
To me, this whole situation comes down to two things: What does a performer owe the audience? And who controls the stage?
The Artist’s Obligation
The first part: What does a performer owe the audience?
Ed Sheeran’s whole aesthetic is feel-good, bubbly sing-along, parent-approved music that offers an escape from any problems outside the walls of the stadium.
Macklemore certainly has the sing-along bops, but he also treats the stage as a platform to amplify issues he considers morally urgent, hence ‘Free Palestine.’
Whatever side of the conflict you sit on, I think Ed Sheeran still is mostly the one at fault here.
It’s Ed Sheeran’s tour; people are buying tickets to see Ed, and the openers should be respectful of that.
BUT! When the headliner books an opener with a track record of speaking out on hyper-divisive political issues on stage, like Macklemore has been speaking out on stage for Palestine since December 2023, that is the risk the headliner takes on when booking that opener.
Was Macklemore being a bit of a presumptuous prick using Ed Sheeran’s show as a partial political rally ground without having a chat with Ed beforehand? Sure. I’d have some feelings about that too if I were Ed.
But Ed Sheeran knew about Macklemore’s aggressive political proclivities, his team knew that, and there’s no way they weren’t fully aware of how Macklemore speaks out on stage before securing him as the opener. The dude’s released multiple songs about the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Unless Ed made an agreement with Macklemore backstage, “Hey man, please don’t talk politics,” which it doesn’t look like he did, I’d argue it’s the headliner’s duty to his openers and also to the audience to stand by acts that he booked. If you invite an artist onto your stage knowing who they are and what they stand for, then abandon them the moment those principles become inconvenient, you’re also telling the audience that your own principles extend only as far as they remain convenient for you.
Musicians are human beings, not just jukeboxes, and a concert is more than just mindlessly regurgitating a setlist. If Ed Sheeran books Macklemore, he’s accepting all of the upside and baggage that comes along with him.
Even if Macklemore’s contract was with the promoter, Messina Touring Group (MTG), and not Ed Sheeran directly, Ed Sheeran and his people still had to wholeheartedly approve Macklemore as the opener and had the power to take a stand if Macklemore was removed by MTG.
Someone like Ed Sheeran and his fanbase certainly have the ability to apply immense pressure on the Kraft Group, and at the very least, explore other nearby venues and cover touring crew disruption costs while things get figured out.
Who’s In Control?
That leads us to the second part: who controls the stage?
In today’s world, Macklemore doesn’t need to be rejected by every owner’s group to derail a tour. If enough critical venues say they won’t host the show, the economics of the entire tour change drastically.
In this case, multiple venue owners were colluding to not allow Macklemore on the lineup.
Stadium owners in the current entertainment landscape, like Robert Kraft, are much closer to cultural gatekeepers than landlords. Like with tech platforms, the person who owns the distribution infrastructure makes the decisions about which speech reaches a mass audience.
Ed Sheeran could’ve explored other options like the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, 10 miles from Gillette Stadium (owned by the Kraft Group), which holds 20,000 people. Sheeran would’ve had to split the concerts over 6 nights instead of 2, and it’d be a total logistical nightmare to switch at the last second, but it’s an option.
There’s also a chance that Kraft uses his power to pressure the smaller venues in the area, like the Xfinity Center (owned by Live Nation), not to host Macklemore.
In that case, Sheeran has a choice to make:
Do I allow Robert Kraft and other stadium owners to function as cultural power brokers telling me who I can and cannot perform with?
Do I put the ball in Kraft’s Court and say “If Macklemore doesn’t play, neither do I?”
Or, do I cave to Kraft’s requests and play the show without Macklemore?
I can’t speak for everyone, but as a fan of many artists, I’m generally willing to endure inconvenience if the artist proves willing to do the same, especially if the inconvenience originates from standing on principles.
Let’s say I had tickets to the show at Gillette. If Ed Sheeran couldn’t find another venue and offered immediate full refunds to fans and covered some of the lost wages of the touring crew, which means he’d be losing out on millions himself (Ed is well equipped to absorb it), I’d personally be fine with that.
It’d suck as a fan, but I’d be fine.
And for the people who booked flights, hotels, and spent thousands of dollars for them and their family to see the concert, that’s a devastating loss. But what’s even more devastating is letting a small group of billionaires dictate what artists can and cannot say on stage.
Ed Sheeran choosing to go ahead with the performance without Macklemore ignited a cascade of the masses posting in support of Macklemore and bashing Ed Sheeran.
Ed Sheeran is currently feeling that pressure, and we’ll see what happens with those shows at Gillette.
But what could the cascade effect have looked like in the opposite direction?
What if Ed Sheeran refused to play Gillette without Macklemore, and his celebrity friends and enormous fanbase pressured Robert Kraft?
What if other huge artists started pulling out of Gillette in protest of Robert Kraft?
You think Kraft is just gonna stand by and lose half the gate of a Patriots home game every time a global superstar pulls out?
I don’t think so… but I guess we’ll never know.
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