Country Music People March 2019 | Page 4

cmp MARCH 2019 Volume 50 Number 3 Issue 589 News Walt Trott in Nashville Duncan Warwick in London Kane Brown Sued Editor Duncan Warwick Contributors David Allan, Janet Aspley, Donnie Ayers, Craig Baguley, Tony Byworth, Larry Delaney, Don Cusic, Julie Flaskett, Kelly Gregory, Michael Hingston, Tony Ives, Spencer Leigh, John Lomax III, Adrian Peel, Paul Riley, Alex Rossi, Wayne Smart, Chris Smith, Tom Travis, Walt Trott, Dave Watkins, Jack Watkins New release consultant: Steve Tidbury Assistant editor / Special projects coordinator Kelly Gregory Photographers Patricia Presley, Barry Dixon, Billie McAleer Printed by Micropress www.micropress.co.uk Distributor Seymour International Press Distributors Ltd. 2 East Poultry Avenue London EC1A 9PT Telephone [phone] Fax [phone] Country Music People is published the last Thursday of each month by KICKIN’ CUTS LIMITED 24 Darley Close, Wittering, Peterborough PE8 6EQ, UK Telephone [phone] - 783689 [email protected] www.cmpcountry.com CMP’s February cover boy Kane Brown finds himself being sued for allegedly ignoring his former Georgia producer Jamal Jones and Zone 4 production company, suing the newly-signed Sony artist for breach of contract. Filed in Atlanta federal court, they allege Brown violated his 2016 agreement with them when he signed a record deal with major label Sony Music-Nashville. In the lawsuit, Jones claimed he “discovered” the new artist and signed him to Zone 4 to “further assist in developing his career as an artist.” Established artists he had worked with include Usher, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, and “despite the efforts taken by (Jones), has chosen to breach his agreement with Zone 4 and blatantly renege on his obligations to the extreme detriment of (the company).” Jones met Brown in 2015 when the singer was gaining traction as an independent artist via his social music videos, and had already started negotiations with Sony. According to Jones, Sony had declined to work further with the artist, instead suggesting he record more music and perform more live shows to further develop his brand, which Jones says was the sort of artist arrangement Zone 4 was offering. Further, Zone 4 and Brown entered an exclusive personal services agreement, explaining that entitles Zone 4 to 50 percent record royalties and 25 percent of ancillary activities. Kane and Sony have since produced three country chart successes on Billboard, most notably Heaven, Lose It (both #1 in Country Airplay) and a duet with Lauren Alaina, What If’s (#1 Country Airplay). Kane and wife Katelyn Jae reside in Nashville. Tim likes it, he loves it ©2019 Kickin’ Cuts Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means without the prior written permission of the Publisher. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for statement of fact or opinion expressed by contributors.The views of the contributors are not necessarily those of Country Music People or its editor. 4 cmp - MARCH 2019 Tim McGraw has launched the first of a series of health clubs, TruMavFitness, the first here downtown on 9th Avenue South in The Gulch, Jan. 18. Long known as a “fitness bug,” Tim was on hand to help cut the ribbon on the fitness centre (right), opening its doors to the public in partnership wth Snap Fitness club owner Wirth Campbell who brings the operational know-how to the project