Post Malone has settled a songwriting lawsuit over his hit song Circles, just before it reached a jury trial.
Musician Tyler Armes had claimed that he wrote major elements of the 2019 US No 1 hit single, including the guitar melody and keyboard chords, and gave input on what became the bassline. “I was beside him giving input – I was not just someone hanging out in the room,” Armes claimed. He said he was offered a five per cent share of publishing royalties, and claimed negotiations for a higher share were shut down by Post Malone’s manager.
Armes sued Malone in 2020, arguing that he should be added to the credits of the song as a co-writer, and receive retroactive and ongoing royalties from it. Malone then countersued, commenting in his filing: “It is an age-old story in the music business that when a song earns the type of runaway success that Circles has garnered, an individual will come out of the woodwork, falsely claim to take credit for the song, and demand unwarranted and unearned windfall profits from the song.”
Terms of the settlement have not been disclosed. The case was due to be heard by a jury, with witnesses playing instruments on the stand, but the court received news of the settlement as the jury was being selected.
It is the second major songwriting dispute to be settled this week, after an out of court settlement by the Weeknd over his song Call Out My Name.
