Meghan Trainor may have made a mint with her platinum-selling hit “All About That Bass,” but it’s the singer’s approach to working with photographers that has the industry talking about her latest tour.
Recently, a scan of Trainor’s official photo/video release was uploaded to the internet. These forms are common in music, as they outline what photographers can and cannot do while shooting a performance, as well as how said photos may be used down the line. You can view the release in question below:
There are three different ‘terms’ that each photographer must first agree to before being allowed to photographer Meghan Trainor. The first is a basic boiler-plate message that explains how the photographer shooting the show is the responsibility of the publication which assigned them to the event. This is one of the most common terms found on forms like this, and so far no one has questioned its inclusion in this release. The second and third terms however, are another story altogether.
Starting with term #2, all photographers hoping to photograph Meghan Trainor must provide a copies of their work to her label, Atom Records, upon request. By doing so, photographers also must agree to relinquish all rights to their work, which is a fancy way of saying you must give all of your work to Meghan Trainor and her team without compensation. Furthermore, Atom Records and Meghan Trainor will now have the right to use your work, without crediting you, however they see fit.
Term #3 further restricts photographers by not only relinquishing their rights as content creators, but by banning the use of their work on any site or article other than the one which they were assigned to create. So if you were hired by Billboard to photograph Meghan Trainor for a concert review, then the only place your work is allowed to appear is in that review. Any additional use, even for personal portfolios, must be approved by Trainor and her label in advance.
If you were to ask someone working with Trainor to explain why the place so many restrictions on photographers, they would probably respond by telling you something about how they hope to protect and otherwise shape Trainor’s public image. By not allowing photographers to post their work wherever they please, the team behind Meghan Trainor believes they will be able to better control the conversation around her and her music. This may be true, but it also stifles creativity and turns the art of photography into something commercial that is being created solely to promote a new talent. That isn’t what photography is supposed to be about, even in the world of music journalism, and those with enough experience to know better are the ones who make sure their concerns over release forms like this are known.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t photograph Meghan Trainor. If you’re on assignment you should definitely do the work you agreed to, especially if you’re getting paid. All I’m saying is that you need to be conscious of the forms you’re asked to sign and what the terms being agreed to will mean for your creation. You may take the best photograph of your life while watching Trainor perform, but other than placing that photo at the top of your assigned piece it is likely it will never be used elsewhere. If it is, the chances of you actually being given credit for your work are about 100 to 1. I want to believe Trainor would be kind to the photographers who make her look good, but whether or not her team believes there is any reason to do so is another conversation altogether.
The lesson here is this: Always read release forms before you sign them. If something rubs you the wrong way, or if you have any questions about certain stipulations, ASK QUESTIONS. Don’t sign anything you don’t understand and don’t work just so that others can use your art without giving you credit or compensation. There are a million other artists in the world, and most of them would love to have you photograph their next show. Heck, they might even let you keep your work.
