The Oracle: Pay To Play

A – When you say you “thought they would wait for the balance” I fear that the payment terms weren’t discussed fully or made clear to studio at the outset. The normal terms of any engagement are that you get paid on completion of the job (or within 30 days) and once you agreed with the studio to alter the normal terms you should have got something in writing to this effect.
You should be aware that there is an EU directive that became law on the 26th of July 2002. This allows the studio to charge interest at 7% per annum above the European Central Bank (ECB) main refinancing rate on commercial transactions that are over 30 days late in being paid.
The name of this piece of legislation is European Communities (Late Payment of Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2002. The ECB rate can be checked on the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland website, www.centralbank.ie.
What are your options? Well you can let the debt lie, release the record and wait for them to take action. This will probably involve them seeking a judgement in the courts against you for non-payment of the debt. You will be given the opportunity to contest their allegations and use any witnesses you have to prove that there was an agreement to defer payment of the final balance.
They may also seek an injunction preventing you from releasing the album until they have been paid. Alternatively, you can do as they have requested and give them a stake in the album.
I would be against this in principle. I would certainly cap any share of profits they get to what they are owed with an additional bonus amount (say 5% of the total invoice cost) for the inconvenience caused by the delay in getting paid.