Concert Photos. How does this deal sound?

[Kent Frost]

For those of you who have seen my party photos, I have a question. This is mostly just a hypothetical question so that I can get an idea on something from a commercial perspective.

I'm offering concert photography services for a price of $25 for local talent, and that is for the price of a Photo Disc (DVD). The discs include every single full-resolution image taken at the show, and can be ordered by anyone who wants one, whether they attended the show or were a part of it. And since I burn to DVD, I can almost always get the whole show on one disc, which many times has been over 250 pics.
Of course, there's an agreement that if there is to be commercial usage of the images (press kits, posters, CD & case/booklet designs), that there is to be proper crediting to me for the images.

For the quality of photos that I produce, does that seem like a good deal?

Here's a couple of previous threads with example images of what I mean:

http://missouriphoto.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1884&highlight=
and
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=151730

 

[terri]

Kent, I'm going to move this thread over to the General Q&A where you might get some more views and, hopefully, some input to your question.

 

[Kent Frost]

Thank you. I wasn't sure where to put it.

 

[hyp0rbyte]

It sounds like your main goal is to get your name out... As a fan I would not pay $25 for a dvds of photos. Local bands are usually broke individuals 18-30. I would goto the show, take the photos, give the dvd to the band (even throwing in some post editing) and hope they use the photos for their webpage/cd cover/etc.. and give you credit for it. A cd in return would be nice... Once you become well-known for such things, you could approach other bands and offer a photoshoot for $25/$50, more for post processing/design.

 

[Kent Frost]

It sounds like your main goal is to get your name out... As a fan I would not pay $25 for a dvds of photos. Local bands are usually broke individuals 18-30. I would goto the show, take the photos, give the dvd to the band (even throwing in some post editing) and hope they use the photos for their webpage/cd cover/etc.. and give you credit for it. A cd in return would be nice... Once you establish a talent for such things, you could approach other bands and offer a photoshoot for $25/$50, more for post processing.

Well, I've been shooting shows for free now for that last 3 years, so the name is out there. I watermark all my online gallery photos with my site address in the corner, and you wouldn't believe how much I've been able to infiltrate the myspace profiles in this region. I know that $25 seems overly cheap, but like you said (and was the aim for the price to begin with)...bands are generally broke. ESPECIALLY in this area. What I started doing was making higher-priced offers that were rejected. This is the first offer I've made where I've gotten responses.

As far as the fans, I take pics of them also. When I take pics of a show, I take pics of the whole environment, including the people attending. I also shoot rave-type parties, and DJ's (which I also am) and party goers LOVE party photos. Those are the types of events that I'm liable to get more disc orders from the audience. So, you know, let's say you go to a party. It turns out to be an absolute blast. Want photos of the whole event that you can print? Here's a disc with the whole event on it for $25.

 

[hyp0rbyte]

I think I am just having trouble relating because I'm not into the club scene. I respect the local talent though, and think its great that they are out there playing. I would say $25 would be a good idea. If you could only have the good shots on cd instead of dvd you could lower the price point to $5/$10 because cds are cheaper...

Just a thought.

 

[Kent Frost]

Actually, the deal is CD or DVD, depending on how many photos they want on it. Even if they want a CD with 1 single photo on it...it's still $25. So the more they get on the disc, the better the deal. I highly doubt that I will get many orders (other than from bands, event promoters, and possibly DJ's) that will require a DVD burn. I imagine that most of the party goers will likely order discs with less than 50 images, which will fit on a CD. Doesn't matter, it's still $25.
Since I also shoot rave-type events, there's likely to be a larger order coming from the attendants of the events than from the talent. So let's say you go to a party, and it turns out to be a blast. Want a disc with the whole event on it? $25. Rather have a disc with only 50 or 60 photos on it? Cool, same price.

 

[Dweller]

Your example links are broken.

 

[Kent Frost]

Not anymore. ;-)

 

[DocFrankenstein]

You gotta count the opportunity cost man. If you go out flipping burgers, you're getting 8 bucks an hour.

Your time
Your equipment
Your skills
Post processing
Computer upgrades...

25 bucks for CD... man - they're getting a good deal.

 

[Cuervo79]

I would consider doing the following, keep selling the cd/dvd as allways but not put the full images in, just images big enough to get decent 4x6 prints made, some of them will like a bigger photos and thats where you come in... because technically what your doing is giving up your "negatives" for $25 a pop...
also get your sig allot bigger so when they want to make prints but don't want your sig there they'll have to crop it and the photo won't look as well. So again if they want better material they will have to come to you.

You have to give yourself more confidence in your work(not that you're underestimating yourself), for example, I sometimes undercharge because I love what I'm doing and even if the shoot's not that easy I still enjoy it, so it sometimes feels akward charging more for something you love and enjoy because you could do it for free and still be happy.