Singing to a Different Tune and a Promotion

Parents skip to the bottom, photographers and people looking to license music read on.

So I had aspirations of finishing my new website in the first week of January and am now in the uncomfortable position of working on it on the side (which is like casually saying you're raising a child in your free time). Like many photography websites, mine was going to use music to compliment my photography (and there is a promotion coming) so I went about the arduous task of trying to license my favorite songs. In case anyone is interested, Boutell has a great write-up on how to do this but for the time pressed individual\parent here's the summary:

• Go to ASCAP, BMI or SESAC (great acronyms huh?) to find your favorite artist. Most artists work with one of these organizations and each has different terms and fees for licensing their associated music.
• It costs about $300 to license the music for commercial use (i.e. you'll financially profit from the use of the music either directly by including it in paid product, like slideshows, or via marketing, like a website).
• If you happen to like Moby (and I do), he actually set up MobyGratis.com to facilitate the use of his music in non-commerical works. When I approached him about using his work for my website, he agreed in exchange for a reasonable fee that'd be donated to charity. Very awesome.
• Finally, TripleScoopMusic has been a great resource for the music I use in client slideshows and is more reasonable at $60, if you can find what you're looking for.

After this hassle, I'm glad that I give my clients copyrights to their photos so they can choose to make prints themselves. This saves them the hassle of getting my permission, provides them real value and keeps me accountable to provide enlargement that are better than the local labs so they buy from me. Okay, now that I've got that self-serving marketing blurb out of the way...

I'm offering a discounted two hour photos shoot ($390) with all the usual bells and whistles (consultation, lighting, 4"x6" prints to keep, online gallery, loads of fun and of course high resolution downloads/copyrights). Fine Print: The only catch is that there are specific photos I need for my website and the shoot must be in January or February before the photography season picks up. If you're interested leave a comment or contact me at Phat Baby Photography. Anyone who follows me knows I don't offer promotions to avoid the sinking feeling of buying something only to find it on sale the week later. So act now, operators are standing by.

Update: Thank you for the many inquiries and bookings. I'm now booked through February, but given the response will see if there are other ways to accommodate those who want to help me with my creative projects.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PhatPhotographer/~3/YQ7M2EnNTUU/singing-to-different-tune-and-promotion.html

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