The Black Crowes spent 2 weeks in court with a person who claimed was their manager. Backing up the alleged manager was a crumpled piece of paper with a circle, pie-shaped lines and names on it. He had booked gigs for them for 18 months in Georgia, and now he was after his slice of the multi-million dollar pie. His working relationship with the band ended 6 months before they were ever signed.

If the Black Crowes had realized the value of using music contracts even when they were just starting out, they would have had their manager sign one, and formally terminated the relationship when it became unworkable.

You and your 3 best friends decide to form a band and play out in bars. You are all doing very well, playing out 2 times a week, and making some good money. You decide as a group to buy PA equipment and a van to haul it around in. Your guitar player puts it all on his credit card, but he is reimbursed with gig money. Then, he decides to quit because he’s getting married. He also decides to keep the PA. When you take him to small claims court to get the PA and the van or at least the cash back, the case is thrown out, because the only pieces of paper are the guitar player’s credit card receipts.

If your band had a written music business agreement regarding ownership of equipment, your guitar player would have a specific set of guidelines about how to leave the band, who owns what equipment, and how any jointly owned equipment gets disbursed.

You book your band at a local bar. Your vocalist gets a cold, which develops into a sore throat. He can’t sing that night. The bar owner demands money from YOU because nobody showed up for the gig.

If you signed a music contract with the bar owner, there would be a contingency clause regarding illness or other matters beyond your control, and the bar owner may owe YOU money!

It’s 3 AM. You have played your butts off for 3 long sets. You’ve packed your equipment and the other band members are loading the truck. You’re in the back office with the closing bartender. She hands you an envelope with cash in it. You take it out and count it. It’s short a couple of hundred dollars. Of course, you complain to the bartender, but she tells you that the bar owner, her boss, said this was what the band was getting, and this is what ALL the bands get. The owner isn’t there to argue with, so you take what she offers. The owner doesn’t remember promising you the extra money the next day when you call.

If you had signed a music contract with the bar owner, it would state the price you would be paid. You show that to the bartender, and she has to give you the agreed amount, regardless of what she remembers the owner telling her.

Your band’s been together for 4 years, and has a big local following. Your keyboard player and drummer want to take their music in another direction, and you all agree that the band needs to split up. She and the drummer want to take the band name, because she remembers that she came up with it over 4 years ago. You want to keep the name because you’ve worked for 4 years establishing an identity. Things get heated and nasty, nobody’s speaking to each other, and everyone has to start over again with a new name.

If your band has a music business contract among its members, it could state explicitly what happens when one or more members choose to leave, and who owns the band name.

You are a friend of a band. A good friend. You help them get gigs, lug equipment, handle their website, phone hotline and mailing list. They call you their manager, and tell you that you are along for the ride. One day, a major label rep hears them and has a meeting with the band behind your back. The meeting turns into several meetings, and you haven’t been invited. When the announcement comes that they are relocating to LA to record their first album, you aren’t on the guest list anymore.

If you had a management contract with the band, you would be protected from this situation.

You are at a club and hear a band that you think has what it takes to make it. After they play, you take them aside, and discuss getting gigs for them, and shopping their demo to some contacts at labels that you have. They are enthusiastic and hand you a pile of CDs to distribute. When you have lunch with your A&R buddy, you find that they are being shopped by another agent.

A written Agent’s contract can prevent them from going behind your back to another agent.