Ex-collaborator claims Blunt royalties

A producer who worked with James Blunt before his fame is claiming royalties to some of his songs.

Lukas Burton says he developed Blunt's talents then was forgotten when the singer got a recording contract.

He says Blunt's music used to be "crude, occasionally laughably direct, and betrayed his relative lack of musicianship or discernible influence." Burton says he saw potential, however, and started working with him.

Burton – who has worked with stars including Dido, Tina Arena and Samantha Mumba – wrote on a website: "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."

When industry figures spotted Blunt, they told him to cut his ties with Burton, he says. He spoke of his anger at the situation, saying: "I had pinned an awful lot of hope on the project and devoted a huge amount of painstaking effort to it."

The UK Performing Rights Society has suspended Blunt's rights for six tracks on Back to Bedlam.

Blunt's publicist has declined to give details of the situation. She said, however: "Traditionally, when a record is this massive, everyone wants to claim credit for its success. This is no different."