In addition to the broader economic and legal climate, factors such as decreasing photographer royalty percentages, competition from foreign workers and increasing preference toward video content can have substantial effects on a stock-production business.
In addition to the major industry trends, regular examination of smaller-scope developments related to common business issues---such as demand for images, cost of production, legal changes and technological advancements---is helpful in determining if and when to adjust stock production strategy in order to keep it profitable. But beware. As you track these developments, it is entirely possible you may decide to place less emphasis on stock production and more on something else.
If you do not plan to retire before 2015, and the money you earn from stock photography is an important part of your gross income, it is not too early to begin devising a plan for modifying your photography business. In the last few years, there have been radical changes in the business of photography, and it seems likely that we have not seen the last of them. What worked in the past or is working now may not work as well in the near future or later. Given the rapid pace of change, it is inevitable that most people will make dramatic career adjustments in their lifetime.
We recently profiled Backcast and the possibility of creating something with the look and feel of a print magazine online. Issuu and FlippingBook are two examples of Web sites that provide technologies to bring such concepts to life.
Alamy sales for the second quarter of 2009 continued their downward trends in each sales territory but were flat when converted to dollars based on exchange rate fluctuations.
Getty Images' royalty-free brands, including Digital Vision, Photodisc, Stockbyte and Jupiterimages, are being removed from Alamy after the two companies were unable to agree on renewal terms of their distribution contract.
Launched in May 2009, microstock business Vivozoom is trying to attract customers by claiming that its image warranty is far superior to those of other microstock sites, specifically iStockphoto and Shutterstock. But is there a substantive difference in the way different microstocks deal with releases or claims from customers that receive something other than what they expect?
Alamy sales for the second quarter of 2009 continued their downward trends in each
sales territory, but were flat when converted to dollars based on
exchange rate fluctuations.
Jerry Tavin's IC Worldwide agency closed down operations on July 31. Most of the approximately 10,000 images it represented have been moved to Glasshouse Images.
Designers are currently upset at the increasing push by customers toward doing spec work. As a photographer, I'd like to offer a little perspective.