In 2012, Example released his album "The Evolution of Man". The debut single "Say Nothing", co-written with McDaid was released in September 2012, debuting at number two on the UK Official Charts. The song was received positively overall and became the best selling song from the album. Digital Spy rated it four stars, calling it "an electronic anthem that's ready to take over the airwaves" and commenting that it "maintains a sense of depth, proving that despite his questionable celebrity jibes his talent still comes out on top." Known to work with styles of music from dance and pop to acoustic singer songwriters, McDaid has written and produced tracks for Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Carina Round, Ingrid Michaelson, Gary Go, Example, Birdy, Kodaline, Rudimental, Biffy Clyro and Rosi Golan. He has also worked with Iain Archer, Declan O'Rourke, Tonio K, and Freelance Hellraiser. He wrote and produced the title track for the movie "House of Fools", which was directed by Academy Award-nominated director Eva Isaksen, and has written and produced records for Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, EMI, PIAS Recordings, Mushroom Records, and Capitol Records. McDaid worked with Paul Van Dyk, resulting in "Time of Our Lives", the number one club chart single from the Grammy Award-nominated album "Reflections". He also wrote and performed the number one club chart hit "Home" for Paul van Dyk. The single was awarded Best Track at the 2009 Trance Awards. McDaid has performed with Paul van Dyk at selected shows. In January 2013, McDaid and Gary Lightbody performed at the "Sons & Daughters" concert in Derry, McDaid's hometown, to mark the opening of the city's UK City of Culture year. In early 2013, McDaid moved to Nashville, Tennessee with singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran to work with him on his second album. Sheeran and McDaid are close friends and later moved to Los Angeles together to continue working on Sheeran's second record. In November 2013, Sheeran posted a picture of himself and McDaid on Instagram stating that they had been making the record together for two years and that it was now complete. Sheeran's X album was released in June 2014 with McDaid having co-written seven of the songs, including "Photograph", which went on to go platinum and win a BMI Pop Award, and hit song "Bloodstream", which was nominated for Best Song Musically and Lyrically at the 2016 Ivor Novello Awards.