CEPIC [Coordination of European Picture Agencies (Press, Stock, Heritage)] has launched its first comprehensive survey of the stock photo industry since 2000. Alan Smith, CEPIC president, says it, "will help picture businesses to know their market environment more profoundly and to learn how to respond to the current challenges."
The survey is for agencies, not individual photographers, and aimed primarily at the European community. It is structured so information can be gleaned about the stock photography business in any given country. For this reason, it is important that agencies from non-European countries also supply information so the results will be a true reflection of the industry worldwide. There are 35 different survey questions, and it is estimated it takes 15 minutes to answer.
The survey can be found at http://www1.ku-eichstaett.de/MGF/geo/wirtschaftsgeographie/cepic/index2.php?Sr_nr=false&pass_nr=false and the deadline for responding is the end of April. The first results will be presented at the next CEPIC Congress on June 4. (For more information about the Congress, go to the CEPIC site.)Full data will be supplied soon after to those who take part. Smith points out that the survey complies with "the highest standards of academic research. Data given to us will be anonymized and will be treated fully confidentially."
The survey is being conducted by Dr. Johannes Glückler, professor of economic geography at the Catholic University of Eichstätt Ingolstadt (Germany). Dr. Glückler has already made an intensive study of this industry in Germany. Two years ago, he delivered an influential paper at Cambridge University and has also conducted an industry survey for the industry's German National Association, BVPA.