Pop duo LMFAO are facing a $7 million lawsuit from their former managers.

The stars, uncle and nephew Stefan ‘Redfoo’ Gordy and Skyler ‘SkyBlu’ Gordy, have been sued by bosses at personal management company RPM GRP, who claim the band signed a deal with them in 2008 but later ditched the contract and hired two of the firm’s former employees to manage them instead.

The lawsuit, filed at Santa Monica Superior Court in California, accuses the duo of breach of contract, tortuous interference and accounting.

The papers state, “LMFAO has thanked the managers who took them from ‘0 to 60’ by throwing them under the tour bus (i.e. firing them). Instead of hiring new managers, LMFAO then poached two employees of the original managers, hiring them on a salary instead of paying a commission to the original managers.”

Gone are the days when artists and managers have a 20 years relationship like U2 and Paul McGuinness. Other artists such as Metallica as well as Britney Spears also enjoyed long lasting business relationships with their managers. The rock band Kiss has been managed by Doc McGhee since 1996.

Veteran management team DAS Communications demanded $14 million in damages after they were fired from Pop star Ke$ha who they described as “a very young and inexperienced artist whose ‘star’ may not continue to rise.” According the papers filed she has made an incredible amount of money in a very short period of time, in large part due to DAS efforts.

Taylor Swift’s former manager also sued country singer for millions of dollars, arguing she owes commissions from a contract she signed with him in 2004, according to RollingStone.com. In July 2005, Swift’s father Scott fired Dan Dymtrow and the singer signed with record label Big Machine. Dymtrow claims he was fired because Swift’s family didn’t want to pay his commission after he helped the singer’s music career take off.

The artist and the manager generally begin on good note. In most cases, the manager will find an opportunity or negotiate a deal that will set the stage for success. The probabilities are low, but if the song reacts with the public and finds it self on top 40 radio, the artist is set to make several million from publishing and performances. Managers are generally paid a percentage of the band’s income, often 15% to 20%.

The manager makes more money as the band popularity grows since the income of the musicians is directly tied to the income of the managers. According to several seasoned managers in the music business the band begins to look at management as an expense rather than something of value. Instead of paying a manager 2 million dollars to manage a multimillion dollar business, the artist will hire salaried employees for half the cost.

In some cases, artists have hired family members only to find themselves in a financial disaster. For instance, Beyonce fired her father as her manager. Live Nation told Beyonce that Matthew Knowles had taken money from her that he was not entitled to as her manager.