#TBT Artist Promo Photos…NSFW Edition

No, this isn’t a post about NSFW artist photos (although that could certainly be a topic). Rather, an arts marketing colleague recently posted a note on FB lamenting the amount of effort it was taking to secure suitable promotional photos from artists.

I’ll be the first to admit this is a trigger issue for me but I’m confident when I say most, if not all, arts marketers would agree with the following NSFW sentiment I published a few years ago.

And if you’re looking for something past the snark, check out this post from 2019 that provides a wealth of useful details on not just why arts marketers need good source content but what qualifies as “good.”

Dear Artists and Artist Managers, Help Us Help You. Here’s What You Need To Provide For Promo Pics And Bios

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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