Hello everyone! After a brief break to celebrate the holiday we have returned with the latest installment in our ongoing effort to inform aspiring music photographers about the realities of life in the industry. This column is dedicated to photo releases and how they may or may not impact your interest in working with certain artists. There is a lot to read, but professional photographer Nick Karp has done a great job of breaking everything down into easy to understand chunks, each with real world example.
This week, something happened that is not necessarily uncommon in concert photography, but something I neglected to think about. I was asked to sign a photo release to shoot a show. What is a photo release? In music photography, it’s a contract that a band sends the media that indicates some rules and regulations.
What they state:
All photo releases are different and they can vary on how strict they are. Below are a list of different type of contracts I’ve been sent, with my opinion on them.
Editorial Release:
Usually this release indicates that your photos can only be used for the publication you are shooting for. This is the least restrictive of all of the releases, and most of the time is only implicated to prevent a photographer from selling the image for non official merchandise. You still retain copyright of the photos and most of …read more