Verbal Agreements

At the dawn of our careers, we often don’t have easily accessible legal counsel. In the absence of lawyers to make hard wired contracts, we might fall back on verbal agreements with peers: “I’ll do production in exchange for half of the master” or something of that ilk. Verbal agreements feel mutually binding and, more often than not, we can expect our peers to adhere to the ethical constraints of these loose contracts.

That said, without a signed agreement you risk the introduction of sticky situations. If a song pops off, one of your collaborators may refute claims of a verbal agreement and fight for a higher percentage. New team members may attempt to sideline an artist’s former creative partners and renegotiate deals made prior to an artists success. A successful song may cause an artist to dispense with master agreements entirely if they were made verbally. All that to say, you are doing yourself a disservice if you rely on verbal agreements to protect you in your career.

While I reject cynicism in favor of optimism, we cannot always rely on our collaborators to act in accordance with the verbal agreements we have set. Sometimes, they may misunderstand the terms we set out verbally. Other times, they may act more maliciously to undermine deals. Its been said to one million artists and songwriters before but I’ll repeat it here: get it in writing.

Obviously, I’d recommend getting a good music lawyer who can help you with the legalese. But, if you are not in a position where you can afford these services you still have options. Agree to publishing splits over e-mail. Draw up a rudimentary contract explaining terms. Record the verbal agreement on an iPhone notes app. Literally do anything you can to have a recorded version of events. Doing so will ensure a certain degree of safety and hopefully stave on sticky situations that could interfere with your creative relationships.