CD cover........ how much??

[rbredden]

I will apologize up front for another how much question......so....I am sorry!

Now that I have that out of the way....

I have been approached by a record lable to shoot an up and comming artist new album cover. I have no idea what to charge. What about risudule (spelling???) on the sales of the album or do I want all my money up front? I think it would be cool to go to the mailbox once a month to pick up a check, but am I living in a dream world??? Ideas and or suggestions would be a great help.


Ross

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

First what sort of "Label" is it? I would assume it is some smaller outfit and not one of the big guys like Columbia/Virgin/Sony etc. Assuming it being an independent I would look first at what sort of shoot do they want? Studio? Impromptu outdoors? Multi-image with some going inside the front cover? Will posters be done using the photo to promote the CD, music tour/apperances? Will there be flyers made using the image to promote the show? Newspaper ads using the image on the CD-Displays for POS using the photo?

Now if this is a small independent that hopes to sell some of her/his/theirs CD's at shows and a few retailers and on line then I would look at getting just a lump sum payment for the shoot. Now if they are a mid level label and plan to sell through Best Buy/Wallmart/Target/etc then you need to get into the details and talk about other uses than the CD cover.

BTW what style of music?

[ShaneKislack]

What is their budget? Don't know? Ask them. Also ask them how many reproductions they'll be doing.

[JoeBannon]

Getting royalties from your photo will be impossible. No record label will do that.

[ctp93]

PM me if you want. I do lots of these and I can tell you that lump up front is about all you can really get.

I have done them for independent artists, and for major labels and it is no different.

You can get a major label to pay more, but that is it. Don't worry about risiduals.

[JoeBannon]

Originally Posted by ctp93

PM me if you want. I do lots of these and I can tell you that lump up front is about all you can really get. I have done them for independent artists, and for major labels and it is no different. You can get a major label to pay more, but that is it. Don't worry about risiduals.

Hey, what lenses do you use to shoot shows?