Ed Sheeran has revealed his record label asked him not to write for One Direction.

Following the news that the Don't singer has penned a track for 1D's new album FOUR, Ed has claimed that Atlantic Records were "annoyed" that his best-performing song - Little Things - was recorded by another act.

[related]Speaking to Australian radio stationNova's Kent 'Smallzy' Small,Sheeran explained: "I wasn't gonna do it...basically, my record label got very annoyed that my first number one was a song that I gave to someone else, and they were kind of like 'don't do it'."

The Sing hitmaker went on to add that after their complaints, he turned down a request from Simon Cowell to write a tune for 1D's new album, but changed his mind when having a shower in Copenhagen, where he got inspiration for the song.

It prompted Ed to go "into the shower room, where it's big and reverberative" to write a track for the X Factor boyband, adding: "It's one of these songs that I wouldn't have used for myself, it's written specifically for them."

We can't wait to hear it!