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Articles from November 2017
Given the low prices, royalty cuts and delayed payments, experienced entertainment shooter are finding they no longer need stock agencies – particularly microstock agencies. When a photographer shoots red carpet or other entertainment events all sales pretty much come the next morning, or not at all. Red carpet event photos have a VERY SHORT shelf life. The trick is getting your photos on the editor’s desk the next morning.
Tired of low stock photo prices? Maybe you ought to license your images to customers direct. More and more customers are finding the images they need by searching Google. Sometimes the image may be one of yours that is represented by an agency. You may be able to get these searchers to come directly to you.
When potential customers see one of your images they would like to use can they find you or your representative. More and more image users are finding the images they would like to use by searching Google or Bing. They also stumble on images that would be perfect for their next project while searching Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and other social media sites.
“Must all Royalty Free photos be model released?” This question came from a stock agent who is considering converting his collection from RM to RF.
The answer is NO. An increasing number of images are being offered under a Royalty Free License for
Editorial Use Only. What the Editorial Use Only means is that “we don’t have a model release for this image,” and thus it can not be used for commercial purposes.
Stock photographers operating drones may want to take a look at
Skytango, a startup agency that specializes in supplying drone footage. Not only will Skytango license stock clip, but it will help those who need custom footage, that can only be shot from above. The company will help customers locate drone operators who have the equipment and skills needed for their jobs.
The
TT News Agency in Sweden has acquired
IBL. Since its inception in the 1960s IBL has enjoyed a solid market position, in Sweden as well as internationally. Daily newspapers, weekly press, magazines and book publishers are the company’s main clients.
Adobe has identified six
visual design trends for 2018. They are: Silence and Solitude; The fluid self; Multilocalism; Creative Reality; History and Memory and Touch and Tactility. In each of these areas they have created a gallery of Adobe Stock Photos that illustrate the concepts.
There have been many articles published about how the Copyright Small Claims Bill, H.R. 3945, entitled, the “Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2017” (the “CASE Act”) will benefit image creators. Here is a
link to an excellent article that may make it easier for photographers to understand exactly how the Act will benefit them.
The market for editorial stock photos is quite different from the commercial market. Shutterstock may be having a difficult time adapting. In January 2015 Shutterstock
purchased Rex Features for $33 million. At the time it was believed that Rex’s gross 2014 revenue was about $7 million.
SilverHub Media is an editorial agency launched in 2016 by long time Getty senior executive Nick Evans-Lomb and Adrian Murrell. On 11/14/2017 Companies House in the UK announced that SilverHub Media will be dissolved within 2 months “unless cause is shown to the contrary.” Rumors have it that SilverHub is saying this was an administrative error.
Last week I wrote about the
Top Suppliers to Getty Image and pointed out that EyeEm has significantly more images in the collection than any other agency supplier.
Contributors to 123RF recently received a request from Eric, who heads the team that secures content for 123RF. He asked them to make their footage available to users via a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. The theory behind this strategy seems to be that some users may be so thankful for your footage and images that they will send you a “donation” to show their appreciation. Of course, they are not “required or obligated” to donate.
It was recently called to my attention that EyeEm has 3,494,298 images in the Getty Images collection. Add to that the 2,755,731 in the Moment collection (from Flickr photographers) and these two collections represent 29% of the combined RM and RF collections currently on Gettyimages.com, and 41% of the RF collection alone. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the current number of images each brand has at Getty.
One of the interesting questions raised by the chart in the
previous story and the chart below is the annual revenue each collection might possibly generate. Certain specialized collections may have provided very few images and thus generate much less than the larger collections. However, by using the attached chart brand owners may be able to get a senses of whether their images are selling as well as those of their competitors.
Moody’s Investor Service reports that total Getty Images revenue for the twelve months ended 30 September 2017 was
$836.8 million.
iStock has done a deal with
Joomag that allowed Joomag users to purchase as few, or as many, images a month as they would like to use for $2.99 each. Joomag provides a graphic design service to over “500,000 businesses across all sectors” that allows customers to create digital newsletters, magazines, catalogs, brochures, ebooks and more and deliver these products either online or in printed form.
The
GDUSA Survey of graphic designers provides a list of subjects in greatest demand by image buyers. The top 25 listed appear in more or less the following order. I searched the five major stock photo distributors – Getty Images, Shutterstock, AdobeStock, iStock and Alamy – to determine the number of images returned when each keyword is used.
Alamy had a very good year in 2016 with total turnover
up 31% to 19,185,668 £ compared to 14,627,376 £ in 2015. However, much of that percentage growth was due to strong sales in the U.S. and a declining exchange rate in the pound compared to other currencies. Based on the U.S. dollar rate at the end of each year the total turnover 2016 was $23,675,114 compared to $21,569,529 for 2015.
The results of Graphic Design USA’s 31st Annual Stock Visual Reader Survey are now available
here. Ninety-two percent of the respondents use stock photos, 72% use stock illustration and 41% use footage and animation. This is a must read for anyone trying to produce imagery that the market wants.