Malvern singer-songwriter Sam Isaac has shocked fans by deciding to quit the music business.

He announced the decision via a post on his Myspace blog after six months of careful consideration.

He said: “I feel I've got as far as I can with "Sam Isaac" and being a solo musician.

“I didn't want to end up five years down the line from now having relentlessly pursued the same path.”

Sam, 23, started his musical journey at the age of seven playing the violin and culminated in the release of his debut album, Bears, in June.

Having had “four years of incredible experiences” Sam believes it is a good time to bow out on a high.

Those years were full of achievements but Sam lists his personal highlights as playing to about 2000 people at Latitude Festival in 2008, going to South Africa for charity work and two sessions at the BBC’s famous Maida Vale studios.

Thanks to some keen work from his management, his music features on Match of the Day every Saturday this season. His track Sideways to accompanies the goals roundup towards the end of the show.

He said that they were things he could “tell my kids”. Fiona McKinlay, a fan from Edinburgh, said that she hadn’t been expecting the announcement but did not see it as the end.

“Sam had a good run and he's got so much to look back on and feel proud of.

“I'll miss seeing him play, but Bears is an awesome album, so the Sam Isaac experience isn't over in so much as that album will be there for me and a growing number of other people to listen to forever.”

It was her mother who really took the decision to heart, having welcomed Sam and his band into her home whenever they toured Scotland.

“My mum actually told me she cried when she read the announcement,” said Miss McKinlay.

Clare Trotter, from Cirencester, echoed these sentiments saying that she was “totally gutted” by the news.

“I am gutted about the end of 'Sam Isaac' but I am keeping my fingers crossed for some other musical venture from Sam in the future,” she added.

The one obvious low point came with the cruel review that the NME gave his album.

“The NME thing was mean and epitomised where I'd got with certain sections of the industry.

“The printed press and labels hate me, whereas publishers, TV, and radio were all fantastic for me. The problem was the image/concept and not the songs.”

Sam remains very proud of his independent approach in a dog-eat-dog industry and believes his success was based on these DIY ideals.

“I broke boundaries in the system on the strength of my music, when so many other bands and their labels have to pay so much money to get anywhere.”

As part of the independent approach Sam found himself in a cycle of relentless touring with a heavy focus on the grass roots of the music business.

It was these commitments that Sam found difficult to continue now he is older and more settled.

He isn’t certain about what the future holds now, but he refuses to rule out a return to the music industry despite his album being set for release in Australia and America.

"I'm still a published songwriter so I'm doing lots of songwriting on my own but also with other people.

“Then I'm thinking about what I might or might not get up to musically.”

Having recently moved to Manchester Sam is currently pursuing a career in journalism and radio to follow on from his university study.

Fans will get their chance to say goodbye to Sam and his music when he goes on his final tour in the UK at the beginning of December.

The final ever Sam Isaac show is at Worcester’s Firefly in Lowesmoor on Saturday, December 5.

Support comes from The Xcerts and The Irony.

Tickets are available from www.wegottickets.com.

Sam releases his last single, Annie, Why Are You So Angry? through Hear You Me on Monday 14 December.