M.O.O.N. - One of the main composers for Hotline Miami - Got screwed out of payment for performing at a video game music concert. Help spread the word!

MOON states "On the advice of a lawyer, I informed them on Friday, December 12th, that if I did not receive payment in full by Wednesday, December 17th, I would write the post you are currently reading, detailing how a company screws over independent artists with signed contracts."

The VERY BIG problem with that statement is that anyone sending it obviously hasn't hired a lawyer. If he had, communication would come directly from said lawyers law firm. Anyone receiving an email like this is just going to think you are full of hot air.

OK, so what else did MOON do, send a few emails? Which MG had responded to so still in communication and nothing to say that they didn't intend to pay. MG were 30-60 days late in payment, is that really that bad? I actually wonder if the "on the night" payment date was in the contract, just sounds odd (but I don't know the music industry). MOON didn't get the contract checked at the start and from what is written it sounds like he still hasn't.

Does all that add up to exhausted all avenues and went to the internet as a last resort? Not really.

Do you think a lawyer would advise to go defaming the company on the internet based on all the above and what you read on MOON's blog?

Does MOON have a 100% tight case to guard himself from being sued by MG for defamatory?

I would imagine(I'm not a lawyer) had he spoken to a lawyer he would have told MOON to retain a lawyer in Mexico and spend $100 to send an official letter first (lets say they ripped him off and charged $400... still not a lot). That sounds more likely doesn't it, but would it have worked? Well very probably, MG aren't going to spend $1000's on a lawyer when they can simply pay the MOON. MG is a company that seems to do these shows regularly, not some dad who hired MOON for their kids birthday party.

Off on a tangent: Has MOON read his contract yet? Checked the late payment fees he's due? Assuming late payment was written in it, it would have been if he'd had a lawyer check the contract in the first place.

Rightly or wrongly, event organizers looking to hire MOON and reading his Faceboook page or website, discovering how this went down just might be a little put off hiring him (despite the positive feedback from the Reddit hive).

I'm happy MOON got his cash but I kinda wish he'd done it a different way. From day one MOON has done everything wrong and it reads like a "what not to do when contracting". Yeah it sounds like MG messed him about but that isn't unusual and there are lots of better things to try first.

Sorry for the rant. I'm not a lawyer, but I am a contractor :/ I dare say my lawyer has cost me hundreds (checking and editing contracts) and saved me thousands. Accountants save you money too.

/r/IndieGaming Thread Link - musicofthemoon.com