And the CMU Award For Royalties Dispute Of The Week goes to .... Mr James Blunt. Yep, the Performing Rights Society has suspended royalty payments on six songs off James Blunt's debut album 'Back To Bedlam' after a music producer claimed he is due a share of the revenues.
Producer Lukas Burton says that he helped Blunt develop his songwriting skills, working in particular on some of the early songs that appear on the debut album, but claims that he was cut out of the equation once the singer was signed to Warner division Atlantic. Writing on the Music Towers website, Burton says that when he met Blunt his music was "crude, occasionally laughably direct, and betrayed his relative lack of musicianship or discernible influence". But Burton, who has worked with the likes of Dido, Tina Arena and Samantha Mumba, adds that he nevertheless saw Blunt's potential so agreed to work with him.
Burton: "A couple of people told me I shouldn't be working with him without a contract in place. But to be honest the love couldn't have been thicker in the air - lots of talk about how great the record was going to be and how cool the whole situation was."
But, Burton claims, things changed once Blunt got a record deal with the singer allegedly being advised to sever his ties with the producer. Burton continues: "It wasn't so much that I was angry, just completely gutted. I had pinned an awful lot of hope on the project and devoted a huge amount of painstaking effort to it. James is exactly as successful as I knew he would be, not that it does me, my bank balance or my family much good to say it."
PRS confirmed it had suspended payments on certain Blunt tracks, a standard response when any royalties dispute arises. A spokesman for Blunt dismissed Burton's claims telling reporters: "Traditionally, when a record is this massive, everyone wants to claim credit for its success. This is no different."
I can't remember if we're championing or dissing Blunt at the moment, so let's cover all bases: Poor James Blunt, being picked on by that nasty Lukas Burton. Perhaps he could write one of his insipid, whiny ballads about the whole ordeal.
Oh, by the way, if you want to read Burton's rant, it's here...
http://www.musictowers.com/Features/ViewArticle1234.aspx