September 5, 2025: TikTok is buzzing to announce a partnership with Ed Sheeran to host an exclusive LIVE streaming performance to be filmed in front of an audience of his superfans in New York City to celebrate the release of his forthcoming new album, Play.
The exclusive event - which takes place in New York City on September 13th - offers fans a rare opportunity to see Ed Sheeran perform tracks from his brand-new album Play - released on September 12th - along with some of his biggest hits.
Ed Sheeran has posted on TikTok to give his biggest fans in New York City a chance to attend the exclusive LIVE event. And, for those not lucky enough to be there in person, the entire performance will be available to watch on TikTok LIVE from @edsheeran and @tiktok, starting at 6.20pm ET on Saturday, September 13th.
Ed Sheeran said: “I'm looking forward to getting back to New York – a city I love - to play this show with TikTok. I’ll be playing lots of new tracks from Play on the night, and I’m very happy that I get to mark the release of the new album with my fans across the world. See you on the 13th x”
In celebration of the launch of Ed Sheeran's new album Play, TikTok will also be launching an exclusive in-app experience. The Play Album Experience - which launches on September 12th - invites fans into an exclusive in-app experience on TikTok, where fans can find exclusive Ed Sheeran content, unlock digital rewards, and deep dive into the album itself.
The campaign includes:
- Play Profile frame: Fans can complete a series of simple in-app tasks, such as following @edsheeran, saving his music to a music streaming service, or posting a video using #EdSheeran to unlock an exclusive 'Play' profile frame
- Trending videos: The experience will highlight the exclusive content from Ed, top fan creations and posts from his collaborators taking users #BehindTheSong.
- TikTok community challenge: Ed Sheeran fans on TikTok can work together to unlock an exclusive video of Ed Sheeran by using the 'Add to Music App' feature to save tracks from Play to their favourite music streaming service. When they have reached 100,000 track saves, the video will be unlocked
- Surprise effects: Fans who search for "Ed Sheeran" on TikTok will unlock special surprise effects
To access the The Play Album Experience simply search“Ed Sheeran” on TikTok from September 12th.
Toyin Mustapha, TikTok's Head of Music Partnerships in the UK, Ireland & SSA, said: "We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Ed Sheeran to celebrate the release of his latest album, Play, with this very special performance in New York. Ed’s songs have soundtracked millions of TikTok moments around the world, and this event is all about bringing that energy to life with some of his biggest fans, as well as millions more watching LIVE globally. It's a chance for our community to connect with the music they love, together with the artist who created it."
Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) is one of the biggest artists in the world and on TikTok, with more than 18m followers worldwide. Ed Sheeran's music has inspired many trends on the platform, including the 'I'll be loving you till we're 70' meme trend, soundtracked by his song 'Perfect', which has gained over 35m creations, including a post from Ed Sheeran himself with more than 115m views. A global dance to his new song Sapphire from Play is already at 3.5m creations, and growing.