How much longer will we need photos for commercial projects?
U.K. national tourist board VisitBritain has announced the launch of the new Britain on View, a Web site developed and operated by the Photolibrary Group.
Getty Images has quietly relaunched newly acquired Jupiterimages.com. The company announced this on its blog, along with a 33% off promotion that lasts through the end of September.
The National Press Photographers Association has received $184,000 in foreign royalties managed by the Authors Coalition of America. The funds are earmarked for services and programs to benefit still photographers.
Stock images, creative stills in particular, have a steadily declining value in the eyes of the buyers. If stock is all an individual has to sell, it is beginning to look like that individual should expect to see steadily declining revenue going forward.
The Picture Archive Council of America will premiere its in-development search engine during its upcoming Miami annual gathering.
Founded by Mike Watson of Digital Vision fame, moodboard says it welcomes the surge in applications to contribute to its microstock collection. The London-based company offers an interesting example of an agency whose traditional roots and products have not adversely affected its relationship with a large pool of micro newcomers.
Jim Pickerell's piece on growth in demand focuses on why the current paradigm does not work for solo photographers but misses the fact that growing image uses also offer opportunities. For the stock photo industry, the issue is not lack of demand but rather the lack of Google, Gillette and Apple-like innovation when it comes to developing a business model that takes advantage of the rise in image uses.
A previous article in this "Business Planning for the Future" series noted that future growth in demand for images is a widely debated subject among stock industry professionals. In my view, traditional customers do not seem to have any growth potential, and there are also indications that growth in demand for low-priced imagery might have reached its natural level. Industry veteran Leslie Hughes has offered an alternate point of view.