Contracts are necessity in the music business. Contracts are essential because multiple entities may be working with each other.
If there were only oral agreement, nobody would know who was obligated to what and in a court of law, oral agreements are not as good as a written agreement with she said he said about the terms of your working relationship.
When there is money involved it is only obvious that the parties involved should to protect their rights should something go wrong.
Although you may come to agreement orally as to the conditions, you should always render the understanding in writing.
There are many reasons why you should get the agreement in writing. First, a written contract serves to memorialize the arrangement between the businesses or individuals.
As time passes, the people involved might have different memories as to what the conditions are of their contract.
Getting it in writing guarantees there are no differences of opinion over what the terms of the agreement are.
Written agreements are much more likely to be enforced by a court in the event of a disagreement or breach of agreement.
Oral contracts are often not enforceable and in some states oral contracts are not even official agreements.
But should a judge decide a case in dispute, the judge is much more likely to impose the conditions of a contract in writing than an oral agreement.
Basically, in the music industry, there should always be a written agreement. A contract in writing doesn't have to be complex and doesn't necessarily always have to be put into writing by a lawyer.
In fact in many cases, you can easily use a basic contract in writing. A good way to find a standard written agreement is to download one from a site like Music Business Contracts.
Lawyers can be really high-price and may not be necessary for some initial contracts in writing such as those between individuals that are just want to make some money from making music.
However you should get an attorney to review the contract if your situation is complex or if you will be working with a large business.
However it is your choice if you want to hire an attorney. Even if you do choose to seek the advice of a lawyer you should still download a standard written contract from a website like Music Business Contracts to make sure that your attorney references everything you desire in your written contract.
