Nickelodeon star Drake Bell just took a beating in court -- because the actor/singer has been ordered to cough up $42,787 to Selena Gomez' music producer ... for crappy songs Bell allegedly never paid for.

TMZ broke the story ... producer John Fields -- who's produced songs for Selena, Jimmy Eat World, and the Jonas Brothers -- sued Bell for $36,000, claiming Bell commissioned 9 songs from Fields for his new album ... but only paid for 5.

Fields claimed Bell agreed to pay $9,000 per song -- and since Bell failed to pay for 4 of them ... he sued for the outstanding balance of $36k.

Now, Fields is getting all that and more -- because a judge has issued a default judgment against Drake for failing to respond to the lawsuit.

According to the court docs, Drake's been ordered to pay the full amount plus interest and attorneys' fees -- totaling $42,787.

Calls to Drake's reps were not returned.

Nickelodeon star Drake Bell has one thing in common with Selena Gomez, Jimmy Eat World, and the Jonas Brothers -- they all hired the same record producer ... except now, the guy's suing Drake for $36,000.

Producer John Fields filed the lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming he produced a total of 9 songs for Bell's new album "A Reminder" back in August 2010.

According to Fields, Bell agreed to pay $9,000 for every song Fields produced -- but only ended up paying for five.

Now, Fields says Bell owes him the balance -- $36,000 -- and he's suing to get every penny back.

Funny ... of all nine songs ... only four made it to the album, which was released last year.

Yeah we didn't hear about it either.