Maverick City Music is firing back in a legal battle over co-founder Tony Brown’s exit from the Grammy-winning worship collective, accusing the executive of violating his non-compete by launching a new Christian music project.
Brown has been suing Maverick City in Georgia court since 2024 for allegedly strong-arming him into signing an unfavorable buyout agreement. The Atlanta-based group denies any wrongdoing, and on Dec. 8, they filed a countersuit in New York, accusing Brown of breaching the terms of that contract.
Maverick City alleges Brown has violated the buyout’s non-compete clause by launching his own worship collective called God Aura. This group, run as an arm of the nonprofit Unseen Voices, released an album called Wonderful Child on Dec. 5.
“Brown expressly described the project as ‘building on the creative DNA that launched Maverick City Music’ and listed as producers, featured or target artists many of the same core creatives who built the Maverick City Music sound, including Chandler Moore, Dante Bowe, Taylor Hill, Ahjah Walls and Nate Moore,” reads the countersuit.
The New York action claims Brown is actively recruiting Maverick City’s artists and producers for God Aura, and that he’s even sent inquiries from his old email account to create the false impression that the projects are connected. Maverick City is now seeking $10 million in damages from Brown for breach of contract, tortious interference, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition.
Brown maintains that he’s done nothing wrong. In court papers filed Jan. 5, his lawyers say the non-compete agreement is not enforceable because Maverick City never paid him the sum agreed to in their buyout deal.
Related
According to Brown, he only got involved with Unseen Voices and God Aura because “he had no other viable employment option that would allow him to earn income comparable to the outstanding payments that defendants have wrongfully withheld.”
A lawyer for Maverick City, Steven Cooper of the firm Reed Smith, told Billboard in a statement on Saturday (Jan. 10) that the company will not discuss active litigation.
“The New York action seeks to enforce a contract and stop conduct we believe violates ongoing obligations, including misuse of confidential information and attempts to solicit our ecosystem,” said Cooper. “We will address the claims in court.”
Brown’s lawyer, Gary Freed, reiterated the arguments from his court filing in a Monday (Jan. 12) comment to Billboard: “We do not believe the non-competition provision is enforceable because of their failure to pay him the compensation they promised him for it.”
A hearing on the matter was held on Monday in Atlanta, though a judge has not yet issued any rulings.
The dispute comes as Maverick City is roiling from the exit of flagship member Chandler Moore. Just as he announced his departure from the group in October, Moore filed a lawsuit alleging that Maverick City CEO Norman Gyamfi stole millions of dollars in royalties from him.
Maverick City denies Moore’s claims as “wildly untrue.”
