Dan Heller on Stock Photography Today

This is a very well written insight into the stock photo biz. This is so much better than the one that was published. You must read this.

Dan Heller's Photography Business Blog:
"PDN Interview: the complete story

In October 2007's issue of Photo District News (PDN), I was interviewed by David Walker for an hour about my thoughts on the state of the stock photography market. You can read the official interview as it was published here.

The article had to be edited to a bare minimum for print use, and though I felt the edits were fair, it was largely incomplete, and failed to really impart the breadth of the scope of the industry, especially as it pertains to future growth and opportunities. So I thought I would print the complete interview here. I have also added material here to include reference information, links, and extended analysis for clarity.

PDN: Why do you think the $2 billion figure underestimates the size of the stock photo market?

DH: Because it's just an aggregate of the sales of what are perceived to be traditional stock buyers and sellers. There are a lot of other people who are selling images, and there are many more types of buyers than before, too. It would be like trying to measure the size of the advertising industry by only looking at ads placed in mainstream media outlets, and not taking into account ads placed on web sites that were never traditional players in the industry."

uh... read the whole damn thing. Twice.