Selling photos

October 3, 2006 7:28 AM

How much is a press shot for a musician worth?

What is the general ballpark figure for the agents of indie artists who want to buy nice high resolution press shots? I've got someone interested in press shots but I've never done this before so I don't know what to charge him for them.

posted by dydecker to work & money (3 comments total)

It seems like a wide price range is out there, probably relevant to skill and market. In NY & LA, it looks like actors' headshots start at $250 and run up to $800. I would assume that these two markets are more expensive. I have budgeted $2000 for corporate portraits with a good photographer. It looks like the cheaper headshot photographers specify pretty exactly what you will get. (ex: 2 different looks, 100 frames for $300.)

I'd advise you to do 3 things:
1) figure out what you need to get paid for a photoshoot for your time and work and equipment, and any help you may need (stylist? assistant?) based on giving them X amount of lo-res frames to choose from and delivering 2 - 4 hi-res shots. I find a good rule of thumb for estimating time is to estimate exactly how long you think a job should take you, then double it. The goal here is to come up with a per-hour or per-shot rate you need to make, and one you'd prefer to make.
2) find out what other photographers IN YOUR AREA charge for similar services, and compare your work to theirs. It is entirely sensible to charge less if you are less exeperienced or less skilled or don't have a good studio setup or don't have much of a portfolio to show. Use these rates as a benchmark.
3) Find out what sort of budget the person contacting you has in mind, use that as a starting point. If they have no experience hiring photographers, they may have unreasonably low price expectations, but most art directors or publicists have fairly good ideas of the going rate. Doing the work of steps 1 & 2 will prepare you for this dicussion. For example, you will be prepared to say things like this:
- "I need to charge you at least $X to make a profit on this."
- "The least expensive professional photographer in town charges $X, and my rate is higher/lower because of Y."
- "For that amount of money, I can provide you A number of stills in B setup. A stylist will cost $X, or you can provide your own." If you also want C, D, and E, then I will need to charge you $Y."

hope that helps.
posted by Cranialtorque at 7:52 AM on October 3, 2006

Good luck! Different artists and management companies will pay vastly different amounts of money, I charge whatever I think I will get. The easiest way to get around it is to ask them directly how much their budget is. It also depends on how they're going to use the photos. Are the shots ones you've already taken of the artist playing live, or are you arranging a promo shot? It's also worth bearing in mind how much you want to do future work along these lines, and how badly you want this to work out.
posted by BobsterLobster at 8:52 AM on October 3, 2006

Thank you both for your comprehensive answers. I've already got the shots and I'm just trying to sell them to their management. I think I'll go the "ask how much your budget is" route as it seems that rates vary so widely. Cheers!
posted by dydecker at 2:16 PM on October 3, 2006