Last week, ASMP and APA sent out an announcement concerning the stock photo agency Alamy. The first lines read as follows:
“On November 20, 2012 Alamy sent an announcement of changes to their Contributor Contract that will take effect January5th, 2013. According to Alamy the key reason for issuing a new contract is a 10-percentage point Increase in Alamy’s commission on direct and distributor sales. Notice, it is an INCREASE in Alamy’s commission, which means another component of the sale, contributors (photographers) will have their commission reduced. APA and ASMP want our respective members to be aware of the impact of this change.”
Later in the article, they supplied a link to Alamy’s blog, where they try to explain why taking 60% is better for the photographer than them taking 50%, and also try to explain what they are doing to increase sales:
http://www.alamy.com/Blog/contributor/archive/2012/12/04/5278.aspx
It is an interesting take on business, but doesn’t bring up the major point- that the system is broken and photography has been devalued to the point that it is pretty much worthless! So them saying that they are trying to punch up sales will have almost no effect, as more of nothing is still almost nothing!
Or….. as ASMP and APA says:
“While we commend the Alamy efforts in creating increased sales, we seriously question the decision to fund those efforts solely at the expense of contribution photographers, who supply the very images that are at the core of their model.
Photographers need to seriously evaluate their own business models and decide if it in fact remains in their best interests to affiliate with Alamy given the new terms.”