12 Understanding the Microstock Revolution
There will likely always be a need for traditional licensed images,
particularly where they are properly rights managed so that buyers
know if and how they have been used before and can pay extra to
buy exclusivity. It is just that, for many uses, buyers don’t need
the bells and whistles (not to mention the expense) of a traditional
licensing model.
The microstocks are, in general, all about generic imagery of all
kinds. No true microstock of which I am aware specializes in just
one or two particular areas. Conversely, the traditional libraries
include many such niche players, often supplying highly specialized
markets, such as medical imagery (http://www.3d4medical.com), car
photography (http://www.carphoto.co.uk), pictures of the Caribbean
(http://www.caribbeanstockphotography.com), and so on. You (quite
literally) get the picture. (I should add that I have no connection with
these sites; I have chosen them at random to illustrate my point.)
Have a look at the paid-for stock library portal site at http://www
.stockindexonline.com, and you can see for yourself the wide variety
of both general and specialized stock libraries listed there. These niche
libraries continue to have a role in providing top-quality images not
easily found elsewhere. You may have images that are best suited to
these specialized libraries. If you do, then it makes perfect sense
to submit work to them. I already do. Diversify your channels to
market.
In Chapter 12, we will consider the possible future of the micro-
stocks and the stock photo industry generally.