Stock fees in Russia?

[John Fowler]

    I'm in the process of negotiating a fee for reproduction of an
image in a Russian magazine.  I have no idea of the state of the
economy there (except for the consistent media reports of how
wondrously rich Russian businessmen are), and I have no idea of
publishing industry economics there.
    It does, BTWay, seem like a market with some potential for stock
photographers.
    Can anyone here enlighten us all as to the realities there?


John T. Fowler,
Photography For Education
http://www.johnfowler.ca
613-256-4056
2549 Old Perth Road
Almonte  ON  K0A 1A0   Canada
NOTE: You may need to add   john(at)johnfowler(dot)ca
to your address book to ensure that you receive emails in your inbox.

[alexander shuldiner]

Hello John ,
Rissians don't like to pay for photographs, and yet exceptions are possible, depends on a magazine (I myself a russian photographer).
Best regards,
Alexander Shuldiner




________________________________
From: John Fowler <john@...>
To: STOCKPHOTO@...
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 5:04:55 PM
Subject: [STOCKPHOTO] Stock fees in Russia?

 
I'm in the process of negotiating a fee for reproduction of an
image in a Russian magazine. I have no idea of the state of the
economy there (except for the consistent media reports of how
wondrously rich Russian businessmen are), and I have no idea of
publishing industry economics there.
It does, BTWay, seem like a market with some potential for stock
photographers.
Can anyone here enlighten us all as to the realities there?

John T. Fowler,
Photography For Education
http://www.johnfowler.ca
613-256-4056
2549 Old Perth Road
Almonte ON K0A 1A0 Canada
NOTE: You may need to add john(at)johnfowler( dot)ca
to your address book to ensure that you receive emails in your inbox.





     

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[babel1855]

I have had quite a few sales in Russia through Alamy (through a distributor).

They have almost all been for very low amounts. The one I know where it was published was a half page in National Geographic Russia and it was sold for something like $45 if I remember right.

But I have no direct experience of the market or the prices there though.

There are some other members of this forum who live in Russia who might be more helpful.

-Per Karlsson


--- In STOCKPHOTO@..., John Fowler <john@...> wrote:

>
>     I'm in the process of negotiating a fee for reproduction of an
> image in a Russian magazine.  I have no idea of the state of the
> economy there (except for the consistent media reports of how
> wondrously rich Russian businessmen are), and I have no idea of
> publishing industry economics there.
>     It does, BTWay, seem like a market with some potential for stock
> photographers.
>     Can anyone here enlighten us all as to the realities there?
>
>
> John T. Fowler,
> Photography For Education
> http://www.johnfowler.ca
> 613-256-4056
> 2549 Old Perth Road
> Almonte  ON  K0A 1A0   Canada
> NOTE: You may need to add   john(at)johnfowler(dot)ca
> to your address book to ensure that you receive emails in your inbox.
>

[John Fowler]

--- In STOCKPHOTO@..., alexander shuldiner <avshuldiner@...> wrote:
>
> Hello John ,
> Rissians don't like to pay for photographs, and yet exceptions are possible, depends on a magazine (I myself a russian photographer).
> Best regards,
> Alexander Shuldiner

Thanks Alexander:
   I'm sure that Russians will pay for my photos, and for the photos of others here, before any use is made of the photos.
   My question is how much?  And what's the state of the economy/publishing industry relative to the rest of the world?

[alexander shuldiner]

________________________________

John, when I wrote that they don’t like to pay I meant that they don’t like to pay mach. They can’t believe that a picture may cost more than $1. However in the magazine you deal with situation can by different. They started search in international stock libraries so they know what to expect. Just start your standard negotiations, tell them your usual price and wait for reaction.
As to the rest of the question, many of international magazines are published in Russia, from National Geographic to Playboy (in fact, Russian publishers buy licenses and issue Russian versions). You won’t find big difference between them and their, say English, analogues. On the other hand, most of domestic Russian magazines always experience financial problems and have to cut expenses to the root.
Alexander




     

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[John Fowler]

--- In STOCKPHOTO@..., alexander shuldiner <avshuldiner@...> wrote:

>
> John, when I wrote that they don’t like to pay I meant that they don’t like to pay mach. They can’t believe that a picture may cost more than $1. However in the magazine you deal with situation can by different. They started search in international stock libraries so they know what to expect. Just start your standard negotiations, tell them your usual price and wait for reaction.>

Thanks again Alexander.  I pretty much followed your advice and (I think) have arrived at a satisfactory agreement - not as much monmey as I should receive, but the learning experience is worth something to me.  If things turn out ok I'll let you know the details.

With the "globalisation" of our business, I'm more and more interested in learning how the economies of various countries actually work - especially who are the people who buy the magazines/textbooks that use my images, what sort of lifestyles they live, what do the publications cost, what disposable incomes do they have, how does that relate to NA, etc, etc?  Short of visiting myself to do the research (wouldn't that be fun?) I must rely on folks such as you for info.

I do know some people within Canada's "foreign service" - the guys that wear the striped pants - that I can ask for info.  From past experiences of dealing with them when I worked within our federal government I have little confidence in either their knowledge or integrity.  Couple of high profile cases in our news these days of Canadian citizens abroad being very badly abused, mostly because of their brown skin colour it seems, illustrates my attitude.  And attitude is everything, isn't it?

[alexander shuldiner]

________________________________
From: jtf22001 <john@...>
To: STOCKPHOTO@...
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 4:13:47 PM
Subject: [STOCKPHOTO] Re: Stock fees in Russia?

 
John, it is impossible to give a general description of Russia. Situation is different in different places. Some of us are ready for the XXII century, others still live in the IXX. In the streets of my St.Petersburg you could see more BMWs and Porsches than in Paris, at the same time there are thousands villages where people do not have cars at all, perhaps one family own a horse or an ancient tractor. Things change rapidly, especially prices. You may argue that some common features do exist. That’s right. For example, Russians do not respect intellectual property.
In short, Russia is not a good market for photography. On the other hand it can be considered as a lottery: chances are weak, but the prize can be great.
John, I will be glad to provide you with more information, but questions should not be so general.
Please, excuse my English,
Alexander




     

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[John Fowler]

--- In STOCKPHOTO@..., alexander shuldiner <avshuldiner@...> wrote:

>> John, I will be glad to provide you with more information, but questions should not be so general.
> Please, excuse my English,
Alexander
>

Thank you for this Alexander, it helps a lot.  I've discovered another Russian friend in an organization I'm a member of here in Canada who tells me pretty much the same thing.  He's doing a bit of research for me, via family members in Moscow.

To help us here understand the economy there, some typical specific questions I have:
-  how much does a single copy of a good Russian magazine cost there?
-  how does that compare to, say, a kilo of sausage or dozen vegetables at a food store?
-  I understand there's a great disparity of wages/prices between large cities and rural areas.  Is there a similar disparity in the prices of magazine and foodstuffs and clothing and other items of life?

While it's likely over by now, I expect it's time to move this discussion off the group and will do so, unless there are others here interested enough to want to continue.

BTWay, your English is fine, don't be a bit shy about using it anywhere.