I think media is just going to have to suck it up and leave print for online, and charge for it. Publish special editions, or luxury titles. At prices that pay. If the content is good, people will buy… This has to happen. There is no other way.
via Robert Wright Photo.
5 Comments
Yeah no doubt our premium content needs to stand alone and be locked up unless someone is willing to pay.
However 80% of our editorial type stuff needs to get released for free at web resolution with advertising embedded. You just have to let it go I think and look for Google to develop a richer ‘image affiliate’ market.
Personally I am already hitting up relevent advertisers before I get in the field on a project. I need to take responsibility to tie in my images to advertisers as I am shooting.
If I am shooting ‘live’ then I offer a short window of time after FTP of files to traditional editorial news wire (15-30mins) after which my server automatically switches the image to ‘free with embedded advertising’.
I am going with this for now. Like people point out – the next 24 months are going to be very fluid. I will change tack the second I see anyone doing anything interesting (i.e AP etc).
Its kind of exciting IMO but at 28yo why wouldnt I be excited. Change = massive opportunities for any Pro Photog aged 25-35.
Bring it!!
@Dan, dramatic.. Do you have a site where you are promoting “my server automatically switches the image to ‘free with embedded advertising’.”
Plus is it only trad editorial news wires you are offering to, not creative?
@david sanger,
Hi David,
I will give it (my system and workflow) away to any pro photog who is willing to try it. I care about image making and I care about those who make images get rewarded accordingly.
As soon as I get back to Aus in 3 weeks I will let you trial it :)
I categorically guarantee NOT ONE world class photog will be shooting for an agency within 3 years.
We can finally kiss those 50% Home territory fees to the door.
Basically PEs will have ‘twitterfalls’ but they will be ‘imagefalls’. Thumbnails only. Further inspection will take the PE direct to the source.
Large traditional aggregation news services (I speak of generic ‘catch all’ news services) are dead. This includes Getty and AFP and their traditional ‘choke’ on photographers. Also includes newspapers (and even online generic aggregators) at the retail end of the news chain.
The reason all these “aggregators of generic news” are failing is because they are neither the ‘source’ nor are they a ‘niche’. They are in no mans land and consumers are good at spotting ‘bulls%$t’.
If you are a ‘source’ generator of content then the web is going to make you money. If you are a niche aggregator of content with a focused audience then the web can make you money.
If you are neither of those two things and you lack the willingness to invest in producing deeply rich original artwork or content then GET OUT OF THE WAY – the new age has no time for ‘generic aggregators of others content’.
So my message is this – be independent be dynamic be bold. Dont sell at any price. Pick and choose the PEs you respect and want to work with. Your content is ‘forever’. Engage when it suits you. Walk away when it doesn’t.
I definitely have a system that works.
The only way AP/Getty/AFP can hurt us now is through controlling event “access” and doing dodgy deals behind closed doors to restrict access. This is more relevent to sports shooters than most other news that happens in a more fluid environment.
But we can beat this strategy too by ‘dynamic collaborations’ between independent content generators.
We will see a lot of ‘pooling’ of independent talent to achieve event access (photogs with reporters with PEs with editors) to generate content with a predetermined revenue sharing deal between contributors.
We will see a heap of that in the next 5-10 years. The best will work with the best in both a vertical and horizontal market sense.
The ability to independently market your content within minutes of producing it (while you remain in the field shooting) is here. Revenue sharing with our content collaborators is here. Marketing and pricing that content instantly globally while you keep shooting in the field is here.
Getty is gone. Thank God.
Cheers and see you in the field. I will keep in touch David! .
:)
And another thing. Another still shooting for Getty,AP,AFP etc etc are insane.
Complete and utter waste of your time.
Utterly redundant business models.
See you all out there!! :)
“Google CEO: Consumers Won’t Pay for Most Online News”
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=135850
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