# Sources — provenance ledger

Last updated: 2026-08-01. Every fact, quote and image on the site is traceable here.
Full working documents: [research-notes.md](research-notes.md) (web-source log, fact sheet, credits draft, logged uncertainties) and [images-draft.md](images-draft.md) (image candidates with licenses).

**Source shorthand (addendum):** `[BMI]` = award statistics supplied by BMI directly (email to Willie Ryan and Kevin McCullough, received 7 Aug 2026) — itemised list of all award titles, Song of the Year designations and Million-Air performance milestones.

**Source shorthand:**
- `[CON]` Concord roster page · `[WIK]` Wikipedia (rev. oldid=1367013133) · `[SFA]` Spotify for Artists songwriter page · `[PL]` Spotify playlist · `[MW]` Music Week, 31 Jan 2025 — all captured 2026-07-31
- `[DOC]` *Johnny McDaid — Biography, Career Statistics & Verified Song Catalogue*, owner-supplied internal dossier updated to 31 July 2026, prepared from publisher-managed and primary sources (Recording Academy, Official Charts, Billboard, BMI/Ivors schedules). **The file is deliberately excluded from version control** (`*.docx` in .gitignore) — it is a confidential review draft containing not-yet-public material.
- `[JMD]` supplied directly by Johnny McDaid in conversation (2026-07-31)

Where `[DOC]` conflicts with the public web sources, `[DOC]` wins — it is the owner's dossier verified against primary bodies (see "Corrections" below).

## Facts on the page

| Claim on site | Source |
|---|---|
| Songwriter, musician and producer; from Derry, Northern Ireland | [WIK] [MW] [CON] [DOC] |
| Member of Snow Patrol; toured the *Fallen Empires* era, joined 2011; writer, producer, guitarist, pianist, programmer | [DOC]; [CON] (2011) |
| Moved to London in late teens; learned songwriting busking | [CON] |
| Fronted Vega4 for a decade; "Life Is Beautiful" US film/TV placements | [CON] [WIK]; [DOC] (placements) |
| First writer signed to Polar Patrol Publishing, 2009 | [WIK] [CON] |
| 7 songs on *×*, 8 on *÷*, 10 on *=* | [WIK] [CON] [MW] |
| "Shape of You": 14 wks UK No.1 · 12 wks Billboard Hot 100 No.1 · US year-end No.1 2017 · first song to 2bn Spotify streams · 98 wks UK Top 100 | [CON] [MW] (UK); [DOC] (US, 2bn, year-end) |
| "Bad Habits": 11 wks UK No.1, longest-running UK No.1 of 2021 | [CON] [MW]; [DOC] (longest-running) |
| "Shivers": 4 wks UK No.1, replaced "Bad Habits" at the top | [DOC] |
| "What About Us": UK No.3, 8 wks Top 10, Grammy-nominated recording | [DOC] |
| "Permission to Dance": debuted No.1 Billboard Hot 100, BTS's fifth US No.1 | [DOC] |
| Film songwriting with Gary Lightbody — *Gifted*, *Modern Love* | [DOC] |
| 2026 releases: "Animal" (KATSEYE, w/ Sheeran, Slatkin, Fedi), "These Alarms" (Snow Patrol & Kylie Minogue, 1 Jul 2026, first release under BMG deal), "Bottle Up" (Backstreet Boys, *PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie*) | [DOC]; [SFA]/[WIK] (Animal) |
| Concord acquired a share of the catalogue, worldwide, incl. future works, Jan 2025 | [MW] |
| 174 songs in the Spotify songwriter catalogue | [SFA] [PL] [DOC] |
| 18.7bn+ Spotify streams across the top ten songs (exact: 18,714,750,612) | [DOC] (from [SFA] figures) |
| 6 songs past one billion Spotify streams | [DOC] [SFA] |
| Per-song stream figures (5.03bn / 3.50bn / 2.20bn / 2.10bn / 1.62bn / 1.01bn / 882m / 861m / 823m / 686m) | [SFA] [DOC], 31 Jul 2026 |
| Per-song official-video view figures (6.76bn / 1.46bn / 674m / 427m / 381m / 724m) | [DOC], principal official video only, 31 Jul 2026 |
| Two Grammy nominations — AOTY (*×*, 2015) and SOTY ("Bad Habits", 2022); no win | [DOC] (verified against Recording Academy profile) |
| Two Ivor Novello wins — Most Performed Work: "Shape of You" (2018), "Bad Habits" (2022); "Shivers" nominated 2022 & 2023 | [DOC]; [CON] [MW] [WIK] |
| 17 BMI Awards (8 Pop, 9 London, through 2025), incl. Song of the Year for "Shape of You" & "Bad Habits"; five Million-Air songs, 24M combined US broadcast performances | [BMI] |
| 600+ Platinum / 14 Diamond certifications — catalogue totals as reported December 2019 (dated, flagged on page) | [DOC] |
| BRIT Album of the Year 2015 — *×* (award to the album; McDaid co-writer on 7 songs) | [WIK] [CON] [MW] |
| IMRO Outstanding Achievement Award (2018) | [WIK] [DOC] |
| Irish Post Award — Outstanding Contribution to Music (2017) | [DOC] |
| Spirit of Ireland Award (2018) | [DOC] |
| Credits-table rows: years/roles | [DOC] first, then [WIK] credits table; song+artist pairings cross-checked against [PL] |
| "Azizam" and "Sapphire" (Ed Sheeran, 2025, from *Play*) in credits | [JMD] instruction 2026-08-01 ("big hits — put them in"); writer credit corroborated by [PL] (playlist positions 11 and 14); role listed as co-writer pending confirmation of any producer credit |
| "Under the Tree" (Ed Sheeran, 2024, co-writer & producer) restored to credits | [WIK] credits table; from *That Christmas* |
| "TRUSTFALL" (P!nk) and "Who We Love" (Sam Smith feat. Ed Sheeran) dated 2023 in credits | Added at [JMD]'s direction 2026-08-01 (find 2023/24 songs); writer credits corroborated by [PL] and, for TRUSTFALL, [DOC]; release years from public release records, not the five logged web sources |
| Playlist = Spotify's official songwriter playlist, 174 songs, ~10 hours | [PL] |
| Press Notes facts: "Shape of You" 98 wks UK Top 100 & first to 2bn streams [DOC]; "What About Us" No.1 in 26 markets [WIK]; *=* singles each past 2bn streams [SFA]; BMI Million-Air for "Shape of You" [DOC]; "Galway Girl" UK No.2 / Irish No.1 [DOC]; "Baby Don't Hurt Me" built on Haddaway's "What Is Love" [DOC] | as noted per fact |

## Corrections applied (2026-08-01)

- **Grammy nominations: 3 → 2.** Earlier site copy said three, following [CON]/[MW]'s "Shape of You" Song of the Year claim. [DOC] verifies against the Recording Academy profile: **0 wins, 2 nominations** (AOTY *×*; SOTY "Bad Habits"). The site now says two everywhere.
- **Roles updated per [DOC] landmark pages:** "Photograph", "Shivers", "Galway Girl", "What About Us", "Bloodstream" → co-writer **& producer**; "Supermarket Flowers", "Underdog" → **co-writer** (previously & producer, from [WIK]).
- Dropped from the site pending clarity: Anderson East "All On My Mind" ([DOC] says 2015, [WIK] said 2017 — conflict unresolved).
- **Family size: six children**, per Johnny directly (2026-08-02), correcting [WIK]'s "one of seven". Not currently stated on the site; recorded for any future use.
- **Records-sold stat revised by Johnny (2026-08-07): "250m+ equivalent records sold"** replaces the earlier owner-supplied "500m records sold" site-wide. "Equivalent" reflects modern stream-inclusive accounting.
- **Radio stat replaced (2026-08-07):** owner-supplied "100m+ US radio plays" replaced with **"24m+ USA radio plays"** at Johnny's direction — grounded in BMI's 24 million combined broadcast performances (see [BMI]). Note: BMI describes the 24m as radio, TV and public performances worldwide; the site label says "USA radio plays" per Johnny's instruction.
- **All photography credited to Bradley Quinn (@bradleyquinnphotos)** per Johnny (2026-08-07) — hero and all eight gallery photographs; footer and lightbox captions updated. Resolves the open photographer-credit question.
- **Collaborator quotes added (2026-08-07):** P!nk — "I just say these terrible things and he turns them into pure poetry" (supplied by Johnny directly); Robbie Williams — "musical therapist" and Foy Vance — "the song whisperer" (both via Chris's biography draft [CB], sourced from his interviews).
- **Hero "174 songs" stat removed** at Johnny's direction (2026-08-07); the figure remains in the Highlights tile and Listen note pending his decision.
- **Timeline expanded to every year 2014–2026** (2026-08-07), incl. Hell's Kitchen (2024, from the August dossier [DOC2]).
- **"Happier" (Ed Sheeran) is NOT a McDaid credit** — Johnny confirmed directly (2026-08-07), correcting the Concord-prepared achievements doc which wrongly listed it among his top songs. Never include it in credits, stats or aggregates.
- **"Bottle Up" co-write confirmed by Johnny directly** (2026-08-07). Site listing stands; the only open item is public label/publisher metadata, which Wikipedia additions still wait on.
- **BMI Awards: 18 → 17** (2026-08-07). BMI's own itemised list totals 17 (8 Pop + 9 London, incl. Azizam 2025 Pop): Azizam '25P · Photograph '15P/'15L · Rest of Our Life '18L · Shape of You '17P/'17L · What About Us '17L/'18P · Baby Don't Hurt Me '23P/'23L · Bad Habits '21P/'21L · Shivers '21L/'22P · TRUSTFALL '23P/'23L · Underdog '20L. The dossier's "18" (May 2023 schedule) is superseded — it likely counted a Million-Air certificate as an award. Song of the Year precision: "Shape of You" = 2017 Pop SOTY **and** 2017 London SOTY; "Bad Habits" = 2021 London SOTY. Million-Air: five songs — Shape of You 8M, Bad Habits 6M, Shivers 4M, Photograph 3M, What About Us 3M — 24M US broadcast performances combined. All `[BMI]`.
- *The Forest Is the Path* (Snow Patrol, 2024) went straight to No.1 in the UK — supplied by Johnny (2026-08-02) for the press biography.

## Owner-supplied statements `[JMD]`

Provided directly by Johnny McDaid for this site, 2026-07-31. Used on his authority:

- **"Biggest digital album of all time"** — related: *÷* "as of 2024 the most streamed album of all time on Spotify" [CON] [MW]
- **"Most streamed song in history"** — related: "Shape of You" first to 2bn Spotify streams, now 5bn+ [DOC]
- **Over 500 million records sold**
- **Over 100 million US radio plays** (Johnny initially supplied 20m on 2026-07-31, revised upward to 100m on 2026-08-01)

## Quotes on the page

| Quote | Speaker | Source |
|---|---|---|
| "It was an honest schooling." (on busking) | Johnny McDaid | [CON] |
| "Johnny is a true artist. His songwriting, whether with his band or for other artists, is both personal and universal." | Jim Selby, Chief Publishing Officer, Concord | [MW] |
| "These songs that I am honoured to have been a part of creating are some of the most important things in the world to me." | Johnny McDaid | [MW] (comma after "creating" removed for grammar) |

## Deliberately withheld

- **A 2026 career honour** named in [DOC] is omitted from the site until the awarding body formally announces it ([DOC] marks it "forthcoming — confirm before public statement"). Tracked in TODO.md.
- Personal-life material (family, relationships) — editorial default, logged in research-notes.md.

## Images in use

Resized derivatives live in `assets/images/` and `assets/images/gallery/`; untouched originals in `assets/images/candidates/` and `JMD Gallery Pics/`.

| File (in use) | Original | Source | License / credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| `hero.webp` | `candidates/johnny-mcdaid-portrait-concord.webp` | [Concord roster page](https://concord.com/publishing-roster/johnny-mcdaid/) | Publicity photo by **Bradley Quinn**. Used at the owner's direction (approved 2026-07-31); credited in footer. |
| `gallery/festival-bluehour[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/IMG_9217.jpg` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD. Center-cropped ~3% to remove frame border. |
| `gallery/keys-amber[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/Edinburgh 026.JPG` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 (Sony ILCE-7M4, Lightroom export, Jul 2026) | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |
| `gallery/mic-bw[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/IMG_9255.jpg` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |
| `gallery/tele-blue[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/Edinburgh 012.JPG` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 (Sony ILCE-7M4, Lightroom export, Jul 2026) | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |
| `gallery/tele-smile[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/IMG_9165.jpg` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |
| `gallery/acoustic-portrait[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/IMG_9155.jpg` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |
| `gallery/duo-red[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/IMG_9185.jpg` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |
| `gallery/keys-blue[-thumb].jpg` | `JMD Gallery Pics/IMG_9116.jpg` | Supplied by Johnny McDaid, 2026-07-31 | Owner-supplied; photographer TBD |

Modifications: resizing/thumbnailing only, except `festival-bluehour` (slight center crop to remove a frame border).

Not in use (archived): the Wikimedia Commons candidates (Sven Mandel CC BY-SA 4.0 set, Musicfanusa80 CC BY-SA 3.0 piano shot — swapped out 2026-07-31 at the owner's direction), `candidates/johnny-mcdaid-portrait-16x9-concord.webp`, `candidates/playlist-cover.jpg` (Spotify-owned artwork), and the six unused files in `JMD Gallery Pics/`. If any Commons image is ever restored to the page, its CC BY-SA attribution (in [images-draft.md](images-draft.md)) must be restored with it.