I worked with a guy who toured with a bunch of bands back in the late 90s/ early 2000s. To hear him tell it, when Napster came about and the music industry had to reorganize itself, the money/demand for anything outside just the music dried up. That was kinda the last hayday for that sort of gig, at least full time.
Now it seems to be more about connections. For example, the few concert gigs I’ve done over the years came from referrals from corporate events/headshots. Granted, the people I work for never explicitly marketed for concert photography, so take that as you will.
I’d say it comes down to doing your craft well, getting in front of the right people through connections, and marketing yourself well enough that you get your work seen by the people you want to hire you. Music photography is kind of like fashion in the sense that a lot of people want and do that job but only a handful make a living doing explicitly just that one thing.
I worked with a guy who toured with a bunch of bands back in the late 90s/ early 2000s. To hear him tell it, when Napster came about and the music industry had to reorganize itself, the money/demand for anything outside just the music dried up. That was kinda the last hayday for that sort of gig, at least full time.
Now it seems to be more about connections. For example, the few concert gigs I’ve done over the years came from referrals from corporate events/headshots. Granted, the people I work for never explicitly marketed for concert photography, so take that as you will.
I’d say it comes down to doing your craft well, getting in front of the right people through connections, and marketing yourself well enough that you get your work seen by the people you want to hire you. Music photography is kind of like fashion in the sense that a lot of people want and do that job but only a handful make a living doing explicitly just that one thing.