I shot McFly for the second time over the weekend, at the Summer Sundae festival in Leicester De Montfort Hall.

Ignoring all the issues about their management and the releases they try and make photographers sign (ask any gig photographer, they will know what you mean), they’re actually a fantastic band to shoot  – one of the best I’ve shot. It’s a shame about the rights-grabbing releases, as it really casts a cloud over everything.

Photographers dont really have an issue with releases in general (its fair enough to say editorial use only, etc.) I want to make that clear. Personally I’d prefer not to have the hassle, but I also completely understand the reasons for them. However, McFly’s goes too far in trying to remove the rights to the images from the original photographer, which is one of the main issues. Even if the photographer is restricted from using them other than for the original publication, the rights themselves should still remain with the photographer. If at a later date the bands management wish to use the pictures, they should pay to licence them like anyone else would.

Super Records (the record label set up by McFly) have lost a lot of respect from photographers for trying this on. They now have a bad reputation amongst almost all of the photographers I’ve spoken to, which also rubs off on the band. Photographers are only trying to do their job to the best of their ability, and get some great photos – which will ultimately give McFly publicity, that’s why they’ve let the photographers in the photo pit in the first place! And as I mentioned, it’s a shame as McFly are actually a great band to photograph. There were photographers from national agencies at the gig over the weekend who couldn’t photograph the band because of the restrictions in the release form, so McFly missed out on being photographed by some very talented people for some very widespread publications.

Everyone there that I know of would have been completely happy to sign the release if a couple of the clauses had been altered to try and reach a compromise, but the band’s management refused.

http://www.examiner.com/concert-photography-in-national/reality-check-when-music-photographers-should-stand-up-for-their-rights

Anyway, here’s the shots from the weekend, McFly put on a great show.

I didn’t enter the photo pit, I shot from the crowd.