gig-shots.com

A friend of mine was tweeting about a shot of hers being used for a magazine cover and was rightly very pleased with herself.  I was pleased for her as well as covers are among the most profitable sales you can get for a photograph so tweeted back that it would be a nice little earner and that’s where it went pear shaped…

Those magic words came back across the tweet-o-sphere:-

Unless a mag have specifically asked you to go and shoot a band for them, they won't pay. Even the big ones like NME or Kerrang:(

Now in this case the magazine was a small independent magazine.  They, like many other small magazines, may have been hit hard recently by rising paper costs, lower revenues from advertising and like the rest of us are probably tightening their belts in the current economic climate.  So does that mean they should get their photography for free?

In some situations I will happily contribute images for free.  If for instance they’re going to be used on someone’s blog or if the band is up and coming and just want to use a couple of images for their myspace page I will often trade use of the images for links to my gallery pages.  In those situation, the customer doesn’t have the cash to pay for photography so I’ll trade use of my images for something I want – more traffic on my site. 

I was approached recently by another independent magazine that wanted to use one of my images.  Musera publish the “Wessex Muse”, a free magazine that promotes creativity and the arts throughout the South West.  They wanted to use one of my Abi Harding photographs to go with an article they were writing about the Zutons.  One of their proposals was that they would write an article about me for their magazine instead of payment.  if the magazine had been based in the Manchester area, or anywhere else in the North-West I would probably have taken them up on it.  A half page article about me and my work would be useful from a marketing point of view and could have generated more work for me, so it seems like a fair trade.  Unfortunately Wessex is a bit too far for regular from my usual work area so I turned them down and asked for payment instead.  “No problem” said the editor, and by the end of the week, the mag had their photograph and I had been paid.

Hmm… kind of shoots down the argument that:-

Unless a mag have specifically asked you to go and shoot a band for them, they won't pay.

Doesn’t it?  And no this isn’t a huge magazine with a massive budget, this is a small independent free magazine.  The only reason magazines won’t pay for photography is because they don’t have to.  There are always some suckers out there that will give away their images for the buzz of seeing their images in print.  Well that’s all well and good, but that buzz won’t pay your rent.  Let’s face it, it won’t even pay your bus fare to get to the gig, meanwhile if more people buy the magazine because your image catches their eye then the magazine is going to profit from it.

If you want to work for free it’s your call, but just remember even if you’re not making any money from the use of you’re image the magazine is.  Whether it’s magazine sales or advertising revenue, magazines are not charities, they’re in it to make money and if you don’t charge them for your contribution then they’ll just make a bit more money.  If you’re happy to buy, insure and maintain expensive equipment to help someone else make money then that’s very naive nice of you, just don’t expect anything in return.

Tags: music photography,business,working for free,rants,magazines

It wasn't looking good, it was 7:30pm and it had already taken over 30 minutes to get from the M6 to the M62 (it's only a quarter of a mile of slip road between the two) and I was still 20 miles or so away from Liverpool and the venue where Maxïmo Park would be playing later that night. Once I was on the M62 my heart sank as I quickly realised the motorway was completely closed due to an accident – it was going to be one of those nights.

Fortunately once off the motorway everyone else seemed to be taking a different detour to me.  Once I was back on the go things seemed to run in my favour and I made it to Liverpool University just moments after the opening act Stricken City’s third song.  I hadn’t heard of these guys before but after last night’s performance I’ll be watching out for them touring.  Lead singer Rebekah Raa has a haunting voice you’re unlikely to forget and with a variety of influences including The Sugarcubes and Bow Wow Wow add them to your watch list now.

Next up were the Noisettes, I saw them in Camden last year (on the Camden Crawl) and since then they’ve gone from strength to strength with the success of “Don’t Upset the Rhythm”.  Their second album “Wild Young Hearts” is a regular on my playlist and if you haven’t already bought it then what are you waiting for?  From the moment they took to the stage lead singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa bounced around the stage and had the complete attention of everyone in the room.  Unfortunately while lead guitarist Dan Smith and Drummer Jamie Morrison were bathed in light, Shingai dodged the spotlights for the most of the the three songs I could shoot.  There are a few good shots in there but they’re going to take a little more editing than normal so watch this space.

The other album that has dominated my playlist this week is “Quicken the Heart”, the latest album from fellow Geordies Maxïmo Park – I’ll ignore the fact that lead singer Paul Smith is a Smoggie.  I’ve followed this band for a few years now, after first hearing their single “Graffiti” on the Zane Low Radio1 show.  I’ve probably seen them six or seven times now but so far hadn’t had the opportunity to photograph them.  I only got to hear the first three tracks (usual rules) before us ‘togs were escorted out but I’m happy to say they’re still the same great band I first saw at the Old Market in Brighton.  I’ve got the shots and now can’t wait to enjoy the show in full next week at Manchester Academy.

Anyone shooting bands will  - or should be – familiar with the issue of copyright grabs.  Those sneaky little release forms that you’re sometimes asked to sign on your way into the venue that try to get you to sign over copyright to all your images to the band in question.  The issue was highlighted recently by the British Journal of Photography when Coldplay changed their ‘standard’ release to include the line:-

you hereby transfer and assign to us with full title guarantee the entire copyright and all extensions and renewals throughout the world (including by way of present assignment of future rights) and all rights of a similar nature in the photographs

Now while many photographers would simply walk away from a contract like that there are still too many up and coming photographers that will sign it just to be able to shoot the band.  And as long as there are people willing to sign, the bands (or their management) will keep asking us to hand over our copyright.  This in turn will mean that music photography will no longer be a viable career (if it isn’t already too late) and we’ll lose a valuable part of music history.

It’s not just bad news for photographers either, whether they like it or not bands need photographers especially in the early stages of their careers to generate publicity.  A good photograph can catch the eye of the reader and make them read an article/review they might otherwise have skimmed past which in turn raises the profile of these bands.

A major reason behind the sudden increase in the number of these contracts appearing is the perception that some photographers use their images to create unofficial merchandise (posters, t-shirts etc.) which will damage the bands income and their managers wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they weren’t trying to protect their clients revenue, but copyright should always belong to the creator of the piece of work whether it’s a painting, an article, a photograph or a piece of music.  The exception being where the piece is created under a work for hire agreement, but in that case the creator should be fairly rewarded up front.  In fact this is exactly the approach LA band The Killers have taken.  While I’m disappointed that they’ve taken this step at least they’re being fair about it.  They want complete control over photographs of their performances so they pay their own photographers to cover the shows.

So what can we do about it, other than bitching about it on blogs/forums/photosharing sites?  Pete Jenkins of the NUJ is working on a standard contract which it is hoped will protect both the interests of the performers and those of the photo-journalists covering the shows, however for that to have an impact it needs to become the standard accepted agreement which means everyone needs to know about it, in particular those just starting out in the business.  We need to spread the word and educate photographers that are still buzzing from being able to shoot their favourite bands that their work has value and it isn’t yet (nor should it ever be) the norm to sign away copyright without appropriate compensation.

With all of this in mind I’d like to start a website to spread the word, ideally it needs to have a short snappy name (don’t all websites) and a logo that photographers can use on their own websites to show that they won’t cover shows where they are asked to sign away copyright without appropriate payment and just as importantly they are professional (in behaviour even if not in terms of earnings), respect the rights of the performers and won’t try to sell photographs cleared for editorial use for commercial or merchandising purposes.

So this is where I start asking for help, I can handle the hosting and set-up of the site but as I’ve said, we need a short snappy name for the site and a logo to go with it.  If you can help, want to be involved or just want to show your support for the idea let us know!  It’s going to be strictly non-profit and none of us will make any money out of the site itself but hopefully it will be one of many small steps on the way to protecting a business we all love being involved in.

Things have been a bit hectic over the last month or so, not least because when the snows came, my car decided it was far too cold and spent most of the month in the garage having some long overdue maintenance done.

I'm not one for letting little details like a lack of transport get in the way of my photography though, and still managed to get through to Moho Live for The Aftershow to check out some of the up and coming talent they were showcasing.

It was a pretty mixed bag with some good solid blues rock from Rainbow Trout, light hearted fun Indie Pop from local outfit The Manyanas, hard edged industrial synth rock from Bristol's Medallist through to rock with a vintage edge from Paris Riots.

With the exception of a couple of easily ignored local bands that would probably have gone down better on the terraces, it was another belting night from the Aftershow. Click on any of the images below to see the full set from the evening.

Technorati Tags: manchester,moho live,the aftershow,rainbow trout,local bands,gigsthe manyanasmedallistunderclassparis riots

I'm stunned, The Princess Charlotte, or more commonly The Charlotte in Leicester has been put into administration today by it's bosses and could face closure in as little as two weeks if new backers cannot be found.

Bosses are blaming their plight on falling audience numbers and losing major bands to bigger venues in nearby Birmingham and Nottingham although rumblings from local gig-goers and bands suggest that The Charlotte has recently been less supportive of local bands, refusing to deal with bands that don't have agents (unconfirmed).

Whatever the truth of it, I hope that Punch Taverns (the buildings owners) are good to their word when they say "The Princess Charlotte is an important venue to the Leicestershire area and we are committed to its future".  The Charlotte has always been one of those key venues that help bands make the leap from local heroes to becoming nationally recognised and it will be a loss to Leicester if it goes.

Technorati Tags: leicester,the charlotte,music venues,closure,local bands,gigs