The plan as a stock photographer 2018 or where is the image licensing industry heading?

The plan as a stock photographer 2018 or where is the image licensing industry heading?

There is a constant thinking ongoing in my head - what’s the best plan for me, where is this industry heading etc etc. These thoughts have been present for a few years now, because this is an industry in constant upheaval. What is the future for me, as a photographer and creator? I need to find the recipe to build something that just doesn't bring in the bacon each month, but also leaves a legacy, something to pass on.

There is plenty of money in this industry (imagery licensing market) with an annual turnover of about $2 billion. The good news is that this is estimated to grow to $4 billion by 2020. Haven't exactly found out where the growth is coming from, but de facto demand for imagery is "exploding" and also technology enables us to harness more and more uses, thus making it harder and harder to getaway with paying nothing for imagery i.e. stealing. Visual content is becoming more and more used, although also in more and more "new" ways - shorter durations, smaller uses, personalised uses etc. The old licenses RM (Rights Managed) and RF (Royalty Free (doesn't mean FREE, stupid name)) are really lagging in suitability to today's requirements and uses.

The bad news is that at current creators (photographers, videographers, illustrators etc.) are the victims of an all out price war between the biggest stock libraries, but also forced to accept lower and lower net percentage take home earnings (i.e. after agency commission), sometimes as low as 15%. The big agencies find it very easy to make themselves more profitable just by doing some trickery and lower the actual net earnings for it's contributors - yes we shout and scream, but compared to shareholders and investors we're worth nothing, no clout and easily replaced. There are agencies, smaller ones that have a much greater relationship with it's contributors such as Alamy. Can't recommend them highly enough, been with them for 14 years, since 2004 and it has always been worthwhile and importantly to me "felt good".

It is 2018, the future is here. There are at least two, to me, known initiatives that are trying to fundamentally change the marketplace in favour of the creators, utilising available blockchain technology, increase decentralisation and minimising the role of the middleman (agent/agency/stock library) - Wemark and Photochain. I've not yet investigated these place thoroughly, but I started to "look" at them and also started to contribute to Wemark.

I've for a long time been a proponent for direct selling. Did it for many years, but in this vast enormous internet that exist today it is difficult for it to be profitable when doing it on your own - the search for imagery needs to be collective, spanning over way more imagery than any one photographer can produce. However, there is no reason anymore that should prevent that. Besides the search, payment and fulfilment (i.e. digital delivery) a creator should be able to keep a much larger chunk of the pie. This also means that we can allow for the new lower pricing, yet find ourselves profitable enough to make it sustainable.

Anyway, I'm rambling - these thoughts keep going around in my head, one wants to be clever, one wants to head in the right direction, but most of all one just wants to work hard, create and be rewarded fairly.

Any fear can be conquered!

I leave you with a positive image. My son is 10 years old. He's a careful character, not a "chicken", just a bit more thoughtful and gentle than many of his peers - he's a thinker and very intelligent. Anyway, he's never really liked the thought of learning how to swim, hating deep water, freaking out about getting his face and head soaked. 

He's been in swimming school for two summers and just barely learnt to swim in shallow water and only for short distances. Swimming school is over for this year and the family banded together and embarked on helping him getting over his fears. We started by letting him dip his face in water in the sink at home, for a longer and longer periods. We progressed to the lake, also adding dipping the head, partly, then completely. All this done calmly and at his pace. I witnessed him battle with his fears, yet desperately wanting to overcome it and also claim the rewards set out for completing various challenges. He got braver and braver, big things like dipping the head under water, became nothing - he beat his fear. A few weeks later and he swims great lengths at deep water, he jumps of jettys getting his head down deep in water and has turned into a complete water bug - I know have to drag him out of it. He's my hero, he stuck at something that he thought he could never conquer, but managed to. So proud of him, so happy for him. Last thing he asks me every evening now is "are we going swimming tomorrow?" and "which island are we going to?". Children are the best, mine are just awesome - love you guys!

So I'm signing off here. Need to put in some more work before the family wakes up and we're heading off to an island somewhere to go swimming in the ocean. We're set for at least 5 days of 30 degree heat. To some that might not sound like much, but trust me, if you are Swedish that is a lot!