How Musicians Can Legally Collect Unpaid Invoices

Written by the editor, a freelance musician

In my experience, playing music and performing is the best job in the world. You’re paid for your passion and injecting some soul into the world, which is a rare privilege!

You’re also a freelancer – which means sometimes you have to get down to business. 

This month’s blog is about my own experience where I had to collect and unpaid invoice, and the lessons I took from it. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was owed nonetheless. We’ll take you through the steps to take to resolve the issue amicably and ensure you are paid. 

DISCLAIMER: This is not formal legal advice and the dispute was resolved. No parties will be named. This blog is purely for educational purposes. 

Freelance musician discussing strategies to pursue unpaid invoices

Overview

  1. The performer was booked for a show by a venue’s management team. The date, time, rate and terms were agreed and confirmed, before the show was carried out. 
  2. An invoice was sent with 7 day payment terms, one week after the performance. 
  3. The invoice was left unpaid for 3 months and emails ignored, until legal action was mentioned. 
  4. A nameless email was replied, stating the manager had been let go, the performance had not been sanctioned and the business couldn’t pay. 

NOTE: As a performer in their first year of business, I did’t have formal legal representation. However the steps are fairly standard procedure, so here’s how the scenario played out. 

Agreement for live music performance outlining contract terms.
Agreement for live music - click to enlarge

Grounds For Dispute

It’s important to note that there was no contract signed – however there is a legal agreement bound by the five terms of a ‘Binding Law Of Contract’: Offer, Consideration, Legal Intent, Certainty and Capacity. These were met via the following means: 

  1. Offer & Acceptance: Venue manager’s Instagram message was an offer, accepted through discussions and confirmations.
  2. Consideration: Agreement on rates, dates, times, and terms, providing mutual value.
  3. Legal Intent: Written confirmation (Instagram & email) shows intent to be bound.
  4. Certainty & Feasibility: Clear terms ensure performance is possible.
  5. Capacity: Venue manager, who was authorised, confirms both parties’ legal capacity.

 

The venue is responsible for the decisions of the manager through the UK Law of Agency, which outlines that the agreement must be honoured by the business, while any ‘unsanctioned’ costs must be recovered from the manager separately in the event of a dispute.

Documents compiled as evidence to establish company identity in payment dispute.
Evidence of the agreement was put together alongside alongside docuemtns proving the identity of the company - click to enlarge

The Legal Stages

There are clear legal steps to take when pursuing unpaid invoices, which need to be followed in order to gain leverage: 

  1. An invoice to be sent with a date payment must be made by.
  2. A reminder, at least 14 days after the missed payment date.
  3. A second reminder, 28 days after the missed payment date.
  4. A final demand letter, stating the date payment must be made by, before a formal claim is filed with small claims court. 
  5. A claim is filed with the small claims court (at the cost of £35), with evidence of the agreement made and any thread of emails. 
Headphones resting on legal documents pertaining to an unpaid invoice case.

The Supporting Evidence

There are key pieces of evidence that establish the agreement was made, which make the case clear: 

  1. The agreement was made in writing (instagram) and confirmed via email. 
  2. The venue owner replied to emails stating they had ‘fired’ the manager (thereby proving he was employed there at the time and the venue was therefore responsible for the agreement)
  3. The venue didn’t reply to emails within reasonable timelines (14 days), where lack of response would go against them in court. 
 

These are all key points that support the case before being brought before the Judge. 

Companies House webpage showing registered company details.
Companies House is the official list of UK companies and holds registered addresses and Company Officers (Owners)

Key notes

  1. The company owner ’s name was established by speaking to the manager in question, who said he had been sanctioned by them to book live music. 
  2. The manager also disclosed the name of the company (established from an employee payslip or the payee into a bank account). 
  3. The company owner and name was then confirmed on Companies House to ensure that the correct parties were legally informed. This is very important, as any discrepancies would mean your case is thrown out of court as parties could argue they were not properly informed. 
final demand letter for unpaid invoice - live music services

Case Conclusion

In the end, a Final Demand letter was issued as a formality, stating the final date by which payment would be made. It also stated that, should the claim go through court, the venue would be responsible for any costs and fees incurred, and potentially interest on the invoice. 

When this was issued, the venue owner called within 2 hours and paid the invoice. They stated it was a misunderstanding, as they had several businesses to attend. It was highlighted he had not responded to emails and therefore formal proceedings where the only option. After a brief discussion, payment was issued and confirmed via the email thread.

musicians union thumbnail
The Musicians Union is a fantastic community that provides legal aid and advice, as well as other perks - click image for more info

Where you can find advice

This is rare in the live music business, but is useful to know. The amount that was owed was below £5000, which is difficult to gain legal representation for considering the effort that goes into it. 

Our advice is to speak to peers or sign up the Musician’s Union, who provide legal cover alongside many other perks including insurances and discounts. 

Note From Editor: This was an isolated case and as my first year  as a full time musician, I was not signed up to the Musician’s Union. Having been through it and for future protection, I’ll be signing up and perhaps issuing contracts in the future!

Hopefully this article is helpful to you, sign up to the newsletter for more tips and advice! We’ll follow up with an article on why the Musician’s Union is useful for any freelancers working in creative industries.