iStockphoto COO Kelly Thompson says the company cannot keep growing
profit at the old royalty rates, so they have to reduce what they are
paying suppliers. The problem is not that the company does not have
substantial profits. Rather, it is Getty Images’ arbitrary standard
for what the gross profit margin in the stock photo industry should be
that causes the problem.
Many who got into the photography business by shooting stock are
finding that relying on stock income alone is insufficient and
increasingly unpredictable. In looking for other ways to earn money
using their photographic skills, some are exploring the wedding
business.
I asked iStockphoto COO Kelly Thompson why the company choose to base
“redeemed credits,” the number that serves as the basis for the new
contributor royalties package, on the number of credits downloaded
rather than the monetary value of the credits.
Many who got into the photography business by shooting stock are
finding that relying on stock income alone is insufficient and
increasingly unpredictable. In looking for other ways to earn money
using their photographic skills, some are exploring the wedding
business.
If you are not familiar with, or have not used Google Alerts to monitor
your art niche, this article can be a very important new tool for you to
use on a regular basis. Google Alerts will help you monitor very
specific sections and segments in your area of expertise or it can be a
great research tool for areas and subjects that you would like to be
involved with in the future.
Getty Images recently bestowed $120,000 onto nine lucky winners of
the company’s coveted editorial photography grants. In a separate
announcement, the company revealed a new editorial imagery
representation agreement with McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Beginning in 2011, iStockphoto will implement major changes to how it
calculates photographer royalties. In addition, the company will soon
launch a small higher-priced Agency Collection containing images from
some of the major traditional royalty-free brands and invited iStock
contributors. Contributor reactions are predictably negative, but how will it shake out form a macro perspective?
iStockphoto has announced a major restructuring in how photographer
royalties will be calculated in 2011 and beyond. In addition, within the
next few weeks they will create a small, higher priced Agency
Collection with images from shooters from some of the major traditional
RF brands and selected iStock contributors who will be invited to submit
images to the Agency Collection.
There are two primary factors that should be considered when quoting a
price for textbook use: image size (1/4, 1/2 or full page) and size of
the print run. This article provides a historical perspective on pricing images for textbook uses and offers an update for the current economic climate.
Getty Images’ contributors can now promote work sold through gettyimages.com using the new online Artist Digital Toolbox—and receive a commission.
One of the questions of the Stock Artists Alliance spring survey asked:
“What other issues would you like to see SAA address in the year?” The
answers, particularly with regard to the general attitude toward
microstock, were very revealing.
The results of the Stock Artists Alliance February survey paint a
familiar picture of the past 18 months: declining revenues and continued
division over microstock.
If you have decided on a career as a freelance photographer, your
vocation will be marketing and your avocation, or sideline, will be
photography.
Though Ellen Boughn got there just a few months sooner, photographer and veteran iStockphoto inspector Rob Sylvan has authored
Taking Stock: Make Money in Microstock Creating Photos That Sell, available from Peachpit.
The World Association of Newspapers and Newspaper Publisher has released its annual
World Press Trends report covering 223 countries.
The popular Strictly Business conference series from the American Society of Media Photographers returns in January 2011.
Visual Connections—the freshly rebranded Picturehouse Marketing US—is hosting the 2010 Image Expo at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York on October 13.
Photographers should be alert for textbook publisher requests for new
image licenses to extend print runs on books that have already been
printed without obtaining such licenses. In many cases, image owners may
be entitled to high retroactive usage fees for copies already printed
and distributed, as well as a fee for the new books the publisher
intends to produce.
Recently on Linkedin Jacintha van Beveren observed that “The old
photography business model is gone,” observed and asked if the road to
survival and future success is through “creativity and flexibility or
stubborn protection.” Neither.