I find myself in an ethical dilemma.
A long time friend and former bandmate of mine joined a band on lead guitar, and shortly thereafter, came to me and asked me to produce their EP. I checked them out and agreed to take the job. They had talent, so the decision was easy. The band didn't have a big budget, but since my buddy was involved I gave them half my rates. He's like a brother to me. They had to pay in increments over time, and it has taken a while to get things done. We did the drum tracking in October of '09 and just tracked the vocals in October of this year. The drummer and the other guitarist actually made the choice to disband about 6 months ago, out of nowhere it seems, but they want the recording finished so they have something to show for the work. I'm happy to finish it as well, so that I have a decent example of my production skills.
Here's where it gets tricky. My friend was very upset when the band broke up. He felt like they gave up on a good thing for small bullshit reasons. He hasn't spoken to them at all. While discussing the recording this evening with the drummer, he told me that, to finish the EP, the remaining cost has to be spilt 3 ways instead of 4, as they cannot get in touch with my friend. He's out of work right now anyway and has his own problems. The drummer continued by saying that because of this, he wants me to withhold any/all copies of the finished recording from my friend. Keep in mind, he said this without talking to his other ex-bandmates, so that could change more or less.
Here's the factors in my head. My friend is the reason they're paying half my normal rate. He also did pay for some of the recording, just not all. The drummer, however was the figure head of the band, who stayed in touch the most and made more of the crucial decisions in regards to the recording.
My question is:
What would you do?
A long time friend and former bandmate of mine joined a band on lead guitar, and shortly thereafter, came to me and asked me to produce their EP. I checked them out and agreed to take the job. They had talent, so the decision was easy. The band didn't have a big budget, but since my buddy was involved I gave them half my rates. He's like a brother to me. They had to pay in increments over time, and it has taken a while to get things done. We did the drum tracking in October of '09 and just tracked the vocals in October of this year. The drummer and the other guitarist actually made the choice to disband about 6 months ago, out of nowhere it seems, but they want the recording finished so they have something to show for the work. I'm happy to finish it as well, so that I have a decent example of my production skills.
Here's where it gets tricky. My friend was very upset when the band broke up. He felt like they gave up on a good thing for small bullshit reasons. He hasn't spoken to them at all. While discussing the recording this evening with the drummer, he told me that, to finish the EP, the remaining cost has to be spilt 3 ways instead of 4, as they cannot get in touch with my friend. He's out of work right now anyway and has his own problems. The drummer continued by saying that because of this, he wants me to withhold any/all copies of the finished recording from my friend. Keep in mind, he said this without talking to his other ex-bandmates, so that could change more or less.
Here's the factors in my head. My friend is the reason they're paying half my normal rate. He also did pay for some of the recording, just not all. The drummer, however was the figure head of the band, who stayed in touch the most and made more of the crucial decisions in regards to the recording.
My question is:
What would you do?
Since you can obviously get in touch with your friend, inform it would be in his best interest to return their calls or at least participate in a conversation about the existing recordings. Get them together, see if it can be hashed out. 
