Producer of Chris Brown's "Party" Sues Sony Music Over Royalties
Ishmael Sadiq Montague, who co-produced Chris Brown's 2016 single "Party" under the name ISM, is suing Sony Music Entertainment for at least $1,247,500. He says the company held up the sale of his royalties on the song and paid him less than he was owed. Music Business Worldwide reported the case.
The complaint was filed on October 16 in New York federal court. Montague is representing himself.
A producer royalty is a share of the income a recording earns, paid to the people who made it. Montague and his co-producer, A1, signed a producer agreement for "Party" with Chris Brown Entertainment LLC on November 1, 2016. The royalty rate was 3%, and after Montague split from A1, 1.5% of that went to him. RCA Records released the song in December 2016. It later appeared on Brown's 2017 album, Heartbreak on a Full Moon, and features Usher and Gucci Mane.
For nearly a decade, according to the report, Sony paid that share directly to Montague's company, SE7EN INTL LLC. That changed on paper in June. On June 25, 2026, Montague agreed to sell his royalty interests in several recordings, including "Party," to Xposure Music Holdings Inc. Royalty interests are the rights to a share of future income, and buyers often pay a lump sum up front for them. Under the sale agreement, Sony's payments on the account from September 1, 2026 onward were due to go to the buyer.
Montague alleges that Sony made false statements to delay redirecting those payments. He says the company held up the change for six weeks, which he argues obstructed the sale. He also alleges that Sony paid him half the producer royalty rate he was owed on the song. These are allegations made in the complaint. They have not been tested in court, and the case is at an early stage.
Royalty payments rarely make headlines. They arrive as line items on statements, month after month, and a change in who gets paid can sit unnoticed until someone checks the figures. For Montague, the dispute is about the money tied to a song he helped make nearly ten years ago, and about whether that money reaches the person it was promised to.
