Small Claims Court

I hate contracts. Especially in the music biz. I've spent countless hours, days, weeks, and months hammering out contractual details and it sucks. Usually the really thorny issues pertain to hypothetical situations which never even come up in real life. In fact, even the broad strokes in most of the contracts that I've been a party to don't make their way into actual business dealings. Good business means having a contract. Great business means never having to rely on that contract to get your business done. It's all about relationships. Treat people well, and they'll usually do the same.

So when a friend of mine (actually a girl who I had been on a few dates with, and really liked) asked me to produce a song I never thought I'd need a contract. Oops. I spent several days setting up the session, finding the players, booking the studio, and negotiating the rates. Then several more days recording and mixing. That part was amazing! I got great players and they all did their jobs wonderfully. The studio I booked is one of the nicest in the world (www.paragonstudios.com). Thank god the musicians and studio all got their checks, because when it came time to pay the producer (that's me), my 'friend' disappeared.

I emailed, called, texted, smoke signaled, and even tried to reach her through her brother (who I had used as the piano player on the session), but she never responded. So now, with no written contract I'm attempting to collect on $1100.00 that I'm owed for my work as a producer. Tomorrow afternoon, I'm dropping the gavel on that beeatch and filing my first small claims court case here in good old Nashville, TN.

I'll post again soon and let you know how I do...