How should I approach this? Advice needed.

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Colin
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Following on from Rock the Priory last week I have just been contacted by the organiser of Rock the Castle which is a similar event being held next weekend at Hertford Castle, apparently he'd seen some pictures from the weekend.

Obviously I'd like to try and make some money from this event as I was unprepared for last weeks and hadn't really given it much thought. I've had an idea rumbling around in my head all week whereby I offer the bands a CD with a number of images on it (maybe 30-40) which will also be converted to B&W and will also have web ready versions as well, so intotal they will have upwards of 100 images. As they are up and coming bands it would make sense for them to have a variety of live gig images for promotional work etc and I was thinking of charging something in the region of £100 - £120 per CD, I know this sounds quite a lot but most of the bands have at least four members so when you split the cost it's not so bad. The CD will have their image printed on it to give it a more professionsl appearance and as I said they will be able to use the images, although I will retain the copyright.

What do you think of this idea, is the pricing too high? Too low? All help, ideas and abuse will be gratefully received! :D
 
Idea sound OK, acid test would be the bands themselves.

Not sold anything this way but have bought images from a couple of pros who sold all images on the basis that I could use on company newsletters, web-sites, etc but not for jounalistic purposes without referring to photographer (I assume that as papers pay per insertion they would want to levy a further fee).

Hope this is helpful.

Gary

PS How's the diet going? ;)
 
Digital copies seems to be quite a popular way of selling work nowadays. I've seen people charging up to £10 for a single image so your price doesn't seem unrealistic, just depends on how much value they place on the images.
 
Not expensive at all for all those images! ;)
 
I dont think that it is too expensive at all. it will take up a lot of your time to do that work and time is money.
I would also remember to put file info in the image with all your copyright info etc. That way if the band becomes big a news agencies want to use them etc. they will know who to contact and pay.
 
I don't know much about the photographic sales Colin, but I know a little about profitable business.

Your price is way too low I think. I'd think about offering only 10-20 pro images for that price, and some extras thrown in if their available...your judgment decides what is pro and what is bin... not theirs.

That’s what I would do if I could command your standard of work. (y) :D
 
Bargain Basement or Pro Standard ... :thinking:

Don't undersell yourself Colin ... you leave no room for negotiation on that sort of rock bottom pricing ... :eek:

I would go with FB's suggestion or double your price up to £250 for the quantity you first suggested ... imo m8 ... :D

Good luck in Hertford too ... (y)
 
Knowing a bit about one particular local band here - they don't end up with much money from gigs once everyone has been paid and managers etc take their cut. So I'd err on the cheap side if you actually want to sell any :)
 
RobertP said:
Knowing a bit about one particular local band here - they don't end up with much money from gigs once everyone has been paid and managers etc take their cut. So I'd err on the cheap side if you actually want to sell any :)
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That as my thought too. Band may not be getting much themselves for a gig. Your best bet would be to find out what they would be prepared to pay and what you are prepared to offer for that price. I like the idea of holding onto the copyright. Might be an idea to sell cheap in the first place and take a chance on any royalties you may get if the bands make it big.
Alec McGuinness took a small fee for Obi Wan Kenobi but secured himself a share of the royalties from toy sales from the original Star Wars film and he made more money than the other stars of the film.
Could be a wise move!
Best of luck.
 
Hacker said:
Following on from Rock the Priory last week I have just been contacted by the organiser of Rock the Castle which is a similar event being held next weekend at Hertford Castle, apparently he'd seen some pictures from the weekend.

Obviously I'd like to try and make some money from this event as I was unprepared for last weeks and hadn't really given it much thought. I've had an idea rumbling around in my head all week whereby I offer the bands a CD with a number of images on it (maybe 30-40) which will also be converted to B&W and will also have web ready versions as well, so intotal they will have upwards of 100 images. As they are up and coming bands it would make sense for them to have a variety of live gig images for promotional work etc and I was thinking of charging something in the region of £100 - £120 per CD, I know this sounds quite a lot but most of the bands have at least four members so when you split the cost it's not so bad. The CD will have their image printed on it to give it a more professionsl appearance and as I said they will be able to use the images, although I will retain the copyright.

What do you think of this idea, is the pricing too high? Too low? All help, ideas and abuse will be gratefully received! :D
Click to expand...

ever tried actually getting money out of unsigned bands for anything? its very very difficult, most get enough from a gig if they're lucky to pay for a few drinks each and petrol money, and as most people in bands are young getting money out of them for something that as far as they see it any friend with a camera can get pictures then its even harder, i have not made ANY pictures from live work that ive done for bands, and ive shot alot of signed and unsigned bands in the last 3 years, ive got more than my own weight in pints from them.....
 
Best thing to do would be to conduct some market research, send some small, unstealable proofs to the people you're targetting and ask if they would interested in buying them and how much would they be willing to pay? You could save yourself a lot of work and clients always like being involved......

Maybe a section on yor website so they can pick say 10 images for £100 at a low res for promo stuff and if they want anything bigger then negotiable price?

Just some ideas to kick around!
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the response. I've already had one band state they'd be interested in buying some images for promotion/marketing. I'll be seeing a few of them again next weekend so I'll start sounding them out and let you know what happens. If I can get images as good as last weekend I'll be very happy, I've just one printed (guitarist with the dreads as used by the newspaper) at A3 size for my portfolio and it looks the business, probably one of my favourites. I've also added a few more so I'll take them with me next weekend.
 
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