Magazine Print Ad Pages Down 4% In 2013

By Jim Pickerell | 707 Words | Posted 5/7/2014 | Comments
In 2013 there were 145,713 ad pages in the magazines measured by the trade organization Publishers Information Bureau.  It is worth noting that in 2000 this organization reported 286,932 ad pages – almost double the 2013 numbers -- for the magazines it tracks.

Getty Pushing RM/RF Buyers To Use iStock

By Jim Pickerell | 333 Words | Posted 5/7/2014 | Comments
A subscriber just pointed out that at the bottom of the search return page on www.gettyimages.com they are now encouraging customers to go to iStock. He did a search for travel and at the bottom of the first page after the customer has looked at only 100 thumbnails she is encouraged in big bold letters to:

Time Inc. Q2 2014 Advertising Revenue Down 7%

By Jim Pickerell | 304 Words | Posted 5/6/2014 | Comments
During Time Warner’s Q1 2014 earnings call Howard Averill, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Time Warner said advertising revenue was down 7% and subscriptions were flat.

Dollar Photo Club Boycott

By Jim Pickerell | 626 Words | Posted 5/5/2014 | Comments
Microstock image contributors are removing images from Fotolia in a boycott of Fotolia’s Dollar Photo Club (DPC) subscription service. So far more than 400,000 images have been removed from Fotolia since April 25, 2014.

Motion Pictures Not A Growth Business

By Jim Pickerell | 190 Words | Posted 5/5/2014 | Comments
According to Variety Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation recently told attendees at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills that “Movies are not a growth business.” Within 17 days after a movie is released in theaters it will be available on TV and smartphones at much lower prices. This is bad news for theater owners.

Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year Award 2014

By Jim Pickerell | 381 Words | Posted 5/2/2014 | Comments
British photographer Tessa Bunney has been chosen Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2014 in the international photography competition. She received an award of £5,000.00 (approximately $8,000.00). The first prize in the StockFood-sponsored category “Food off the Press” for the best recently-published food photograph went to Caroline Martin for her still life “Roasted Pigeons.”.

ACSIL Elects New Co-Presidents, Hires New Executive Director

By Jim Pickerell | 358 Words | Posted 5/2/2014 | Comments (3)
The Association of Commercial Stock Image Licensors (ACSIL), a trade association serving the interests of the world’s leading archival footage and stock licensors, has announced its newly elected Co-Presidents: Max Segal and Clara Fon-Sing.

Using Images To Mine Data

By Jim Pickerell | 1219 Words | Posted 5/1/2014 | Comments
It’s No Longer About The Image. It’s About The Data That Can Be Mined Using Images. The value of images is declining. The value of data that can be mined by tracking image use is increasing.

Cannes Lions Ridicules Stock Photography

By Jim Pickerell | 509 Words | Posted 4/30/2014 | Comments
A lot of people like to ridicule stock photography and hold it in contempt like “Truly Awful Stock Photography” or “Unsalable Stock Photos” or “20 Worst WTF Stock Photos,” but we’re not sure what the organizers of The 61st Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity are trying to do.

Search and Compare Major Microstock Sites

By Jim Pickerell | 749 Words | Posted 4/29/2014 | Comments
Buyers looking for microstock images want to know which of the many available sources offers the best licensing models, terms and price. Now with the beta version of http://www.microstock.photos customers can simultaneously check the offerings of 9 or the most popular microstock sites and see who offers the best deal. This search tool is free to use.

About Michael Masterson

Michael Masterson has a broad range of experience in marketing, business development, strategic planning, contact negotiations and recruiting in the photography, graphic design and publishing industries. In addition to his long experience at the Workbook and Workbookstock, Masterson owned and was creative director of his own graphic design firm for several years.

Masterson has been a speaker or panelist at industry events such as Seybold, PhotoPlus Expo, Visual Connections and the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) national conference. He is currently the national president of the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP). He also serves on the board of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council in his Los Angeles community. He chaired the marketing committee for the Los Angeles Conservancy, a historic preservation advocacy group, for many years.

He currently heads Masterson Consulting, working on projects ranging from business development for creative companies and sourcing talent for them to promoting and marketing industry events as well as providing resume and professional profile services for job-seekers. He can be reached at zvpunryqznfgrefba@tznvy.pbz.