The leaking of exploitative contracts handed out to photographers by the newly revived The Stone Roses has thrown a spotlight onto the relationships that exists between musicians and other creative people who work within the music industry.
Posting on his Facebook, veteran live music photographer, Ian Tilton, whose iconic pictures helped to encapsulate the legendary Manchester band in their prime, uploaded the proposed live photography contract. In an update he added:
“Still no word from The Stone Roses or their management or their press agent. I’m still boycotting Photography at all the gigs. Please join me and all the other photographers until the Roses withdraw this exploitation contract”.
The main point of contention within the document states that all rights for pictures taken at their gigs will be owned by the newly reformed group, so that they can exploit the photographs as they deem fit without needing to pay the photographers.
The final line of the section reads: “You agree to provide us with all the copies of all the photographs upon request. No syndication rights are to you, all rights are reserved to us.”
Calling the contract an “insult to all photographers”, Tilton made his scan of the offending contract available for public viewing on June 22. The band have since issued a revised contract which many photographers still feel is far too harsh and restrictive.
Friend of The Stone Roses, Tina Street commented that “without people like Ian Tilton a lot of band would not have got the coverage they got in the early days and would not have been on many a teenager’s wall, creating that buzz that is so important when starting out.
“Outrageous. One love? Yeah right.”
As calls for boycotting ring out across social network sites and forums we want to know what you think about non-musicians working and trying to build careers within music.
Are photographers, artists, designers and other talented creative specialists important collaborative figures in any scene, or should it be all about the music?
Do non-musicians live off players or can they provide benefits and opportunities that musicians would otherwise struggle to take advantage of?
Let us know what you think in a comment below.