A UK High Court has ordered AEI to make an interim payment of $1.9 million (£1.4 million) to electronic label NCS while a wider dispute over distribution and publishing revenue moves toward trial.
The ruling follows NCS’s claim that AEI owes it millions after their distribution and publishing agreement broke down. Under that agreement, AEI was to exploit the NCS catalogue, described as containing more than 1,500 songs across various moods and genres and generating over 500 billion plays globally, in exchange for a share of the resulting revenue.
Background to the dispute#
The relationship is complicated by AEI’s partial ownership of NCS. AEI’s namesake parent is said to still hold a 25.25% stake in NCS. Multiple contracts, allegedly due payments, several counterclaims and uncertainty over which agreements govern the former relationship have fed the legal battle.
NCS moved to terminate the underlying deals in September 2025. AEI’s payments have been on hold since December 2025, and catalogue exploitations have been paused since the start of 2026. AEI is seeking relief for breach of contract “from NCS contracting with third parties” and unjust enrichment.
Interim payment calculation#
Citing AEI’s own accounts, the High Court identified “a running balance in favour of NCS from AEI of US$6,126,037.43” as of March 31. From that total, the judge deducted an NCS-calculated maximum counterclaim value of $4.04 million (£3.06 million), noting that AEI “failed to put forward in their evidence any alternative figures.” That left the $1.9 million (£1.4 million) pre-interest interim payment.
- Running balance in NCS’s favour: US$6,126,037.43 as of March 31
- Maximum counterclaim value cited by NCS: $4.04 million (£3.06 million)
- Interim payment ordered: $1.9 million (£1.4 million) before interest
Why the court ordered payment now#
A trial is tentatively scheduled for early 2028. The court pointed to that lengthy window, AEI’s own books showing evidence of due payments, and NCS’s concerns that the defendants “are incurring significant legal costs in these proceedings.”
The court added:
NCS is concerned that the Defendants have no intention of repaying their debts to NCS, and that upon NCS receiving a judgment for a substantial sum at trial, AEI and [its publishing arm] Featherstone will simply be wound up.
NCS’s legal representatives said the label intends to push back against the counterclaims and seek “the payment of a debt (or damages) plus interest of an additional circa £5 million, plus a full account,” at trial.
