Yuri Arcurs Invests $1.2 Million in Scoopshot

Posted on 7/16/2013 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (2)

Backed by Yuri Arcurs, Scoopshot is launching a new service for crowdsourcing photography on-demand in minutes after the customer makes a request. Scoopshot gives photo buyers the ability to instantaneously place assignments in front of the company’s global network of 280,000+ mobile photographers.
 
The photography-on-demand service has received $1.2 million in funding from Arcurs. Scoopshot will use the funding to accelerate its international growth with a focus on the UK, US and German markets.
 
“Today, relevant and unique content is what matters for brands and media companies in order to truly engage consumers. Crowdsourcing offers the unique opportunity to gain both, while adding the element of engagement to the photo sourcing process itself” says Mr. Rahja founder and COO of Scoopshot. “With Scoopshot you can crowdsource images, run photo competitions, do content marketing, gain consumer insights and much more. Your imagination is the only limiting factor” Mr. Rahja continues.  


 
The birth of on-demand photography could sound the death knell for the stock industry as we know it, says Scoopshot CEO, Niko Ruokosuo:  “Buyers are tired of wading through page after page of stale and over-used photography, before having to compromise. For the first time, they can request exactly what they want and receive it within minutes and without spending a fortune. The birth of on-demand photography will be as much of a game changer for the photo industry as iTunes for the Music industry,” says Mr. Ruokosuo.

Scoopshot offers local, national and global photo assignments. Location-based local tasks can be created for free, with national and global tasks available for a small fee. Photo buyers can pay to send an instant notification to photographers in a specific location alerting them of the task, extend the duration of a task, or brand the task with a logo. All photos submitted are available to buy for just $5 each. Brands that have already used Scoopshot to source photos on-demand include Oxfam, Malibu, Fiat, and Vogel’s.
 


“It is our belief that the majority of stock photography will be on-demand within the next five years. To survive, photo sites must adapt and adopt new models for monetising photography. It really is a case of do or die,” added Mr Ruokosuo.
 
Scoopshot also offers subscriptions for media users, providing a live feed of eyewitness photos from its crowd of mobile photographers in 177 countries.
 
“Media coverage is becoming much more visual. Long pages of text are giving way to image-heavy articles. Consequently, demand for photos is increasing,” said Mr Ruokosuo. “With our global army of photographers expanding daily, we’re offering instant access to authenticated eyewitness photos from across the globe and the ability to request photos from any location. Aside from saving time, eye witness photography is a powerful supplement to freelance and staff photography.” 


Copyright © 2013 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

Comments

  • Alfonso Gutierrez Posted Jul 21, 2013
    Pictures on demand offering has been with us for quite a while and has had little impact in stock photography as a global market. People can invest money on bizarre projects if they like too certainly, but now Scoopshot images go from fair to mediocre if one looks closely just the first page and if somebody wants to create a global "task" for photographers, can easily cost you $499 for sending an alert to, I assume, all the photographers, 280.000+, and extras for logos+banners to present your "task" and then wait for seven years to receive the images that having seen the content that Scoopshot has in the first page it may not be the greatest photography that one has seen in his/her life. It is a lot faster and certainly cheaper to browse for images in a traditional stock agency or even in a microstock site if prices is a concern.
    The birth of "on-demand" good photography happened years ago and stock photography still exits today, while certainly traditional stock photography has to modernize its business model the reality is that it has not happened faster because there are still substantial number of buyers that need an invoice describing exactly the rights bought and request that the printing run of the publication and other historical details be mentioned in the document. Ancestral? Yes, but very real.


  • Alfonso Gutierrez Posted Jul 21, 2013
    Correction:

    "---and then wait for seven years to receive the images..."

    I wanted to say "seven days"

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