April 22, 2008

By By Ken Tucker, Nashville

John Michael Montgomery has signed an exclusive agreement with independent music distributor Artist To Market Distribution (A2M). The company will handle the distribution of Montgomery's tenth studio album, "Time Flies," which will be released in late summer on his own independent label, Stringtown Records.

Since announcing the new label in November, Montgomery, who serves as CEO, has brought on CO5 and Grassroots Promotion to handle radio promotion and Ed Gertler Consulting to manage Internet promotions.

To complement its sales and distribution capabilities, A2M has also partnered with a third party sales consultant film, Rocket Science LLC, to handle sales solicitation, retail marketing and retail account interaction. San Francisco-based INgrooves will handle all online and digital distribution worldwide.

Montgomery's first single from the new set, which he co-produced with Byron Gallimore, is "Mad Cowboy Disease."

Since first debuting on the country charts in 1992, he has sold 10.5 million units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has scored 20 top 10s on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, including seven No. 1 singles.

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