According to JP Morgan analyst Imran Khan, U.S. newspaper ad revenue declined 8.6% in 2007, and he believes the decline will accelerate in 2008. In 2006, the decline was only 1.7% compared to 2005.
In the summer of 2003, I put together a list of leading companies in the industry, and I have tried to update it periodically. Here is a comprehensive list of the world's major picture libraries and portals that produce and license rights to still images.
With revenue growth stagnant, if not slightly declining, several portals and picture libraries are looking for ways to cut costs and make their sites more attractive to buyers. The unintended consequence: customers say they can't find the right image, while photographers lose revenue.
Even if you handle copyright correctly, getting compensated once there is an infringement can be difficult.
Microstock sites seem ideal for book publishers -- until one looks closer at the license agreements. Repeat usage prices soar.
An increasing number of microstock images are considered of "better quality" than some RM imagery. Photographers seriously delude themselves when they believe that RM images are, by definition, of "better quality" than RF or microstock.
In August, Getty dramatically lowered the price for online use of any image in its collection to $49. The company expected this would attract a significant number of Web buyers. Image suppliers expected it would result in a significant decline in their revenue. Indications are neither occurred.
Many who argue that everything should on the Internet should be free are limiting the medium's potential. Stock photographers are not posting pictures online as a way of demonstrating their skills in order to get assignments. (Some assignment photographers do, but promotion is not assignment.) Stock photographers have produced a product at their own expense that they hope to sell.
If agencies charge $510 for the right to print a picture in 1,000,000 copies of a textbook, how do they tell the customer who's producing a book on a specialized topic with a 20,000 press run that he should pay more than $11? That's getting down to micropayment prices.
Many people want to talk about how to get better prices for better quality images. When we're talking about stock pictures, this concept is irrelevant. Unfortunately, quality has absolutely nothing to do with what a customer will pay for an image.