Taylor Davidson - Latest Comments in The stock photography industry needs to be unbundled

Re: The stock photography industry needs to be unbundled

garagespin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:28:51 -0000

Great thoughts above. Some kind of central platform will always be needed to create a centralized directory of images buyers can access. A photographer-hosted system would still need a way to feed image content into a central repository for 24/7 browse-ready capability. At the very least, we're talking about a Bloglines/Google Reader for images that doubles as a searchable online catalog and ecommerce engine. Perhaps a content directory powered by photographer-submitted RSS feeds is the next evolution in the space. That would then be independent of the hosted/non-hosted debate, since either could apply. Patent pending. :) (Perhaps it already exists.) Even then, media management would be an issue.

Wordpress, Movable Type, Blogger, etc, were revolutionary because they enabled web publishing for non-coders, for free. Wordpress then attracted users in droves because it enabled web design for non-designers in the form of free site templates, and software development for non-developers in the form of plugins, again, for free. Increasing user scale led to more motivated developers, which has further led to an upwards spiral of usage. Is the "obstacle" in this case painful enough, and is the "enabling benefit" strong enough, to drive mass adoption of an open source solution? Or would most aspiring and/or accomplished "pro" photographers be interested in focusing on photography, rather than technology? I lean towards Allen's comment above in thinking that the volume of photographers "desiring" the ability to host, manage, and distribute their own content may not be sufficient to economically support an API model, or an open source community that might develop one. But then, we all might have said that about open source in general in the 1990s.

It's interesting to note that Automattic (the for-profit company managing Wordpress software), in an over-simplified nutshell, leverages the open source community (centered around Wordpress.org) to develop and enhance its core software, but generates revenue through upgrades and premium services offered to users of its free, hosted community at Wordpress.com (which uses its core software).

I seem to be rambling a bit, and will now stop.

Re: The stock photography industry needs to be unbundled

tdavidson — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:39:48 -0000

Allen: thanks for the detailed response, especially since you obviously know the business so well.

What are your biggest barrier to getting images and photographers? What are your biggest barriers to getting buyers for images?

What is the difference between a "pro" and an "amateur" in your mind? I have my thoughts ("if you're not eating from the money you make from photography, you're not a pro"), but I'd interested in your thought especially since it has a huge bearing on how you approach the market for your products.

Actually, in my mind the open-sourced platform would be given away for free. Give away the software, create a platform for developers to create plug-ins to manage images, fans, customizations for photographers. Provide (free and paid) services to help photographers host and customize their own stock solutions. Learn from the lessons of companies that have created platforms, not just products. You're already doing a tremendous amount to create a community around photography (I was a PS Collection member): you could leverage that and create an entire ecosystem around hosted stock solutions.

Many photographers have asked me "what should I do?" because of the financial instability of the stock photography business and the primary agencies, and I'm sure you've also heard photographers' pain. People are concerned about re-tagging their images, managing keywords, reconnecting with buyers from the dead agencies: people are learning something about the failures and the heavy switching costs between platforms. Saying "we won't go under" isn't enough: you have the opportunity to do far more to show photographers a better solution.

Not all photographers will want this, of course: many won't want to manage their own systems, learn about web development or managing their software and hosting solutions. But that's what Movable Type and Wordpress have learned, and it's a key part of why they offer both the hosted and non-hosted paths.

I completely agree that standards would be a great way to address the platform problem, and I agree that the industry probably does not have the economic incentive to all band together to create interoperability. But don't you have the opportunity to create standards? Couldn't you win clients (photographers and photo buyers) by showing the path yourself?

Re: Storing digital assets and e-commerce layer: you obviously know what goes into this far more than I do. It's not a trivial problem, but there are many software and web companies that have dealt with similar problems with managing massive flows of unstructured and structured data. Think of it as creating an API between the cloud of hosted software platforms and Photoshelter's e-commerce market-making website.

What are the biggest barriers for photo buyers? It's not just about prices: people buy microstock not because it's great, but because the process is easy: the license terms are easy to understand, easy to use and the pricing comparison between images is transparent. The lack of price transparency between RF / RM and in comparing images is a strategic mistake: the transaction costs (time, effort, energy) are a significant barrier to closing a sale.

The demand for images has splintered: there are so many more media, more channels, more ways to communicate with people that are demanding to use images, but the stock photography industry is still tied to an old business and operational model that has not adapted our changing use of images.

I apologize for the long response: suffice it to say I've got more ideas, but would love to get more of your thoughts...

Re: The stock photography industry needs to be unbundled

EthanBauley — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:40:28 -0000

I'm hoping to launch a contest on behalf of a Very Large Vacation Resort on Flickr...there's a few different design details being considered, but here's one I'm pushing:

Guests at the resort can submit photos from their stay to a group hosted on Very Large Photo Sharing Site. Some days later, client chooses a couple of pictures to license for a postcard [or something] to be sold/given away at the resort. The price/license will be a few hundred dollars or maybe a couple free nights at the resort. Definitely <$1k. It will undoubtedly result in an amazing picture.

How does the "new photography industry" work within next-gen marketing/business model possibilities like I just described? I just went to photoshelter and someone is trying to charge me $1300 to license a photo for advertising/web use in the USA for 1 year. It seems plain to me that this price is completely ludicrous.

(Bear in mind that, contextually, I'm sitting here with a very expensive M.F.A. on my resume)

I'm not very familiar with photoshelter but it seems like the photographer probably sets the price. So is this pricing symptomatic of the larger problem?

This is a killer space, ripe for reinvention. Photoshelter looks awesome, but it seems plain that there is room for more disruption...all it takes is an appetite (yes, and probably some capital/runway ;-)

[Did I just make an oblique Guns 'N Roses reference???]

Re: The stock photography industry needs to be unbundled

Allen Murabayashi — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:34:19 -0000

Taylor: interesting insights. I know nothing about the inner workings of the blog companies, however, they do not have the inherent problem that pro photography has -- that is, a small addressable market. Millions of people use blogger and word press, by contrast, the # of "pro" photographers is in the low hundreds of thousands by most estimates. So I'm not sure an open platform system would work.

Secondly, storing digital assets and providing an e-commerce layer isn't as simple as hosting a few bytes of blog data. Not to say that it can't be done, but we have a ton of scripts that are necessary to control everything from conversion of JPG/RAWs into thumbnails to e-commerce systems that process transactions, email the client, and generate a downloadable file.

I would personally like to see more adoption of standards so that distribution of your images from a hub like PhotoShelter to any number of destination sites (whether it's Getty or a boutique agency) could be as simple as something like sending an e-mail. Ultimately, however, I don't think the industry has the economic incentive to develop such a system -- and often, what's good for the photographer isn't necessarily needed by the buyer, and vice versa.