$239,329 for 5 Months of Work - That's What Scotty McCreery Owes His Former Manager

Last year, music industry veteran Todd Cassetty sued Scotty McCreery and his mom Judy for $570,000. Cassetty alleged that in in October of 2012, his company, Cassetty Entertainment, signed McCreery as its first client. Though there was never a formal, signed contract, Cassetty said that he was promised the "industry standard" pay rate of 15-20 percent. When the two stopped working together five months later, Cassetty says he was offered a mere two percent of gross revenue. The lawsuit itself quoted emails from McCreery to his management in which he said, "I will make sure you get a large 15% touring check ... this month." The "large 15%" check never appeared and the suit was filed and went to a jury trial.

On June 18, 2014, the jury found that while McCreery did owe Cassetty Entertainment for serivces rendered, but not for the over a half a million that was billed. They awarded Cassetty $239,329 instead.

McCreery was happy with the verdict. In a prepared statement, he said that he always intended to pay Cassetty. His issue apparently wasn't the paying part, it as the how much part. He was glad that the jury award was less than the $570,000 Cassetty first requested.

"While it has been difficult to risk having my reputation challenged, I always believed that the truth would prevail, and it has," Scotty said. "I have a management team, including a professional business manager, in Nashville advising me. Now I am happy to put this behind me and focus on my music. As always, I am thankful to my fans for all of their support."

The only real surprise here is that with all of his experience in the music industry, Cassetty didn't either a.) not work without a signed contract or b.) stop working long before five months with no pay was up. This is a man who has worked promotions at the Country Radio Seminar, Gaylord Entertainment and one of Warner Bros's divisions, Giant/Reprise Records. His digital marketing company, Hi-Fi Fusion, has a blue-chip roster with clients like Big Machine, Sony, Warner and other record labels, as well as individual clients like Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift and other top-level artists. I guess we all live and learn.

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Scotty McCreery