Royalties Dispute Halts Garth Brooks’ Album Anniversary Reissue

Country superstar Garth Brooks’ plan to release a new, star-studded version of his 1990 classic “Friends In Low Places” has hit a stumbling block over a royalties dispute, according to Billboard.

The singer recruited his musical hero George Strait, along with Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, and Keith Urban for the reworked song to mark its 25th anniversary, and was going to include it on a special reissue of his album No Fences.

Brooks wants to release the remastered disc for a lower price through a non-traditional retailer for a limited period, but a fall-out with music publishers over their share of royalties from the project has stalled the plans for the reissue.

Brooks is continuing to seek a middle ground and insists he wants to strike a deal that works for everyone, telling Billboard, “They said (they couldn’t agree to the reduced royalties rate) to protect the songwriters. I respect that. That’s been my whole thing since day one; you have to protect the songwriters.”