I think the long term solution is building up a community. Once more people start to get on board with this “independent creators rise up” movement, they will see the value in a space like this, and others like it. Here, we are not subject to algorithms and we can connect in the way that Jack discusses. Tight-knit communities create “superfans” who support us because of our core mission and vison.
I don’t know the answer to how to make money off concert photography. I think it’s hard in the current music industry landscape because all creators struggle with the same question.
I do think they would be okay with you selling a coffee table book with their photos in it. You would just have to get the proper permission. But, in line with my latest “community building” obsession, I think most artists would be stoked to hear that they were featured in a coffee table book, especially when it was made by someone who has been out there in the trenches giving them free promotional photos for years.
The biggest factor would be finding a way to market it as more than just a book of photos. Building a story around that book as a selling point would be key. But then there is the upfront investment cost of having such a book printed, and the difficulty in selling enough of them to break even.
We’re at the mercy of the algorithms until we have enough people realize they can go around the algorithms or game the algorithms…
something to try:
Next time you have a post on Instagram that you want to see more action on, try this: Text me, text your other trustworthy friends, and ask them to go like and leave a comment on your post. Watch what happens after they do. Your post will be shown to WAY more people.
I did this when I shared the schedule for Extra Chill fest on my story last year, and it was shown to over 1000 people. All i did was text people off the platform and tell them to go fire react to my story. And it worked.
It’s almost like we need to have specific groups that are ready to provide engagement on each other’s posts to reach our audience. And having a team of people who all work together on this, to artificially blow up our content to reach the proper audience. People who care enough to partake in this.
