Perhaps slightly OT but nonetheless interesting. I met a former professional photographer who had become an economic analyst. He used to do fashion and music s

Perhaps slightly OT but nonetheless interesting. I met a former professional photographer who had become an economic analyst. He used to do fashion and music shoots for major magazines (Conde Nast etc..). He gave me an interesting insight into why his former business collapsed. First of all he said that his photography business was predicated on the fact that he held the whip hand with respect to his clients: they needed to be absolutely sure that the person they sent out got the right shots on the day. There wasn't going to be another opportunity to ask Bono or whoever to do them over. So Conde Nast had to be absolutely sure that he would produce the goods. For him to be good enough to be sure of always getting the shots no matter the conditions, weather, light conditions etc...the photographer had to have the requisite experience and the only way traditionally they could get that experience was by using up a lot of film. In his view the cost of the film you would need to go through to have got to his level was approximately £60,000. That was the barrier to entry. With the barrier to entry and with his strong position with respect to his customers he got two important things: a high level of pay and royalties on renewals for his work. So they not only paid him but he had an ongoing revenue for shots they had paid him to take, if they wanted to reuse them over time. Once Digital got good enough, the barrier to entry fell and the magazines slowly gained the upper hand, paid less and didn't agree to the same terms. So now he advises Banks on something or other.