Charges for CD Cover

I've been hired to photograph and design a CD cover for a national band/artist and have never done

this before. I was hoping someone out there has done this kind of work and could advise me on how to

charge and if there are other details I may need to know.

Thanks

Make sure you get the equivalent of both rates - Photography and Design & Retouching.

I've done the design and retouching act to someone else's photographs and came in at

17k for a 4 panel cd, a 12" and cd single. I'd guess that the photographer got 5k to shoot

the package.

 

It is going to be very dependent on the label's budget. I had a fair idea of what I could get

in my case. Smaller sub-label of a big label and I was dealing direct with the artist (a

known artist but not hot in a decade or so).

 

Figure out what you need to do, make sure you know how to do it all (I hired a designer

friend of mine) and submit a bid.

Call some cd art directors and tell them your situation and question. They won't want to give you a high quote, because often they are the ones who hire the photographer, but ask what is the lowest and highest paid for photographic work on a national cd and go from there. I'd ask several AD so you can cull the bull shit answers.

Glendon:

 

I don't mean to sound like a smart-a$$, but how did you "get hired" without having discussed

how much you would charge? All contracts I've ever negotiated certainly contained payment

details.

this was a quick last minute deal...I haven't done the work yet...and no photos will be

released until they have a payment contract. I just want to know averages so I don't get

ripped off.

Glendon:

 

It would be near impossible for anyone to give you an average pricing idea without more

information from you. You need to look at things like number of copies of the CD to be

released, geographical area, how long will the shoot take, how much post processing work

is there, etc.

 

I suggest you try out the online pricing calculators for pricing the photo usage and then

add fees for designing, shooting etc. You can find these calculators at alamy.com but

purchasing FotoQuote or Hindsight Ltd's pricing software will probably be more useful.

Also, check out blinkbid.com