Garth Brooks Announces Divorce From Record Label

Mark Humphrey/AP

The fan-favorite country star announced the break up after years of work and an album that did not meet expectations of either party. 

Following his return from a period of retirement, Garth Brooks unveiled in 2014 that he had signed with both RCA and Sony Nashville for his latest studio album, Man Against Machine. 

The album did not meet expectations, generating far fewer sales than the majority of his previous releases and its only two singles not even breaking into the Top 20. 

While his tour based on the album sold more tickets than most country tours in recent history (and may even have grossed the highest volume in world history), it seemed the partnership between Brooks and the label was headed toward a split. 

The Tennessean has reported that Brooks has split from both Sony Nashville and RCA, vowing to release his next two projects on his own label, Pearl Records.

The split from Sony Nashville comes after Brooks himself stated, last year, that he was uncertain of his future with the label following the resignation of label head Gary Overton in early 2015.

It’s much been speculated that Brooks choice to release the digital copies to his own online music store (and not to any of the big players) may have resulted in the breakdown of the relationships. 

Now, Brooks appears to be rethinking that and also working on a streaming deal with a company he calls “one of the biggest partners in the world”. 

Watch the video below of his song “People Loving People” off his album Man Against Machine.