It’s not the Second Coming, it just feels like it. On March 3 – a date not so much marked on every calendar in the biz, as it is burned deep into the collective conscience of everyone in it – Ed Sheeran will release his third studio album, ÷.

Acting as more than just a gauge of Sheeran’s success, its a release that stands to give a good indication of the health of the industry in 2017.

Early omens are ...