As little as five years ago, approximately 98% of all stock photo
revenue came from print uses. There was little or no Internet and small
business uses. Today about 20% of industry revenue comes from Internet and small business uses. The needs of these new customers were hardly addressed five years ago, as all traditional sellers focused on the high end of the market. Consequently, when someone
wanted an image for these purposes they either took the picture
themselves, or copied something off another Internet site and paid
nothing for its use. In the last five years the demand for images that
will be used electronically has grown dramatically.
For several years
I have estimated that the size of worldwide market for still stock images and
illustrations at about $1.8 billion. I’ve also claimed that overall
stock photography has been a no-growth business despite the fact that
some companies and individuals could point to growth. Now, at the end of
2009 I believe gross revenue for the industry is no more than $1.45
billion and it will probably continue to decline. The stories here break out various segments of the market and explain the overall trends.l
This story provides links to a five part series of articles designed to help photographers understand the major trends impacting the industry in 2010 and help them plan for the future. We outline some of the issues to consider, new business models to explore and things to focus on in order to have a profitable business. Following the first five stories are links to some additional articles on the business of stock photography that may be of interest.
Looking for some vacation reading material? Here are some suggestions.
If you want to know how successful stock photographers do it, here are
links to a series of interviews done over the last couple years. There
are lots of different strategies. Some of these photographers are among
the world’s most successful. Other’s like Todd Klassy and Holger Mette
are relatively new to the business, and have adopted unconventional
strategies that may be the wave of the future.
Half of the survey respondents reported a greater than 5% drop in revenues between 2008 and 2009, and more than a fifth continue seeing a decline in 2010 compared to 2009.
Shannon Fagan is a former President of the
Stock Artists Alliance and an Advisory Board member of the
Young Photographers Alliance.
In
the past 18 months, he has attended every major industry conference to
gather information on stock photography and licensing’s current
direction.
He has contributed both Rights Managed and
Royalty Free images directly to Getty Images, Corbis, Veer, Blend,
Image Source, Cultura, Spaces, Tetra and many other brands. He has a
deep knowledge of the stock photography industry, both from personal
experience, and from his role helping other photographers develop their
businesses. The following summarizes a few of his thoughts that were
first published on
Greg Ceo’s blog.
Shannon Fagan is a former
President of the
Stock
Artists Alliance and an Advisory Board member of the
Young Photographers
Alliance. In the past 18 months, he has attended every major
industry conference to gather information on stock photography and
licensing’s current direction. He has contributed both Rights Managed
and Royalty Free images directly to Getty Images, Corbis, Veer, Blend,
Image Source, Cultura, Spaces, Tetra and many other brands. He has a
deep knowledge of the stock photography industry, both from personal
experience, and from his role helping other photographers develop their
businesses. The following summarizes a few of his thoughts that were
first published on
Greg
Ceo’s blog.
A 14-month review of data from the leading microstock supports the theory of the fastest-growing industry segment having reached a plateau, with flat unit sales and revenue growth resulting from price increases.
The following material was compiled from
iStockcharts.multimedia.de and shows the sales of 198 of iStockphoto’s top contributors in the 14 months between May 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. (I’ll use the word “contributor” instead of “photographer” because a significant number or the top sellers are illustrators or graphic designers selling illustration, not photography).
Successful stock shooter Jonathan Ross has invested in all tiers of today's stock image market. His experience says that the way to a profitable future is rooted in a unified approach to pricing and quality. Read this transcript of Ross's recent presentation at the New Media Conference, which took place during the CEPIC Congress in Dublin.