# Let Them Eat Cake

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/continuous-agitation-7876047/let-them-eat-cake
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/continuous-agitation-7876047/let-them-eat-cake.md
Podcast: [Continuous Agitation](https://stenobird.com/podcast/continuous-agitation-7876047)
Published: 2026-06-04T03:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/fc55b01795d377ba5a680faca75d60fd265384c2201a15914265ece9360f1d1b/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJjNzMwZjFhYy03YmE3LTRkMjUtODY1OS1jNTJjMDJjMTQ0NzEiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI4OWY4Y2Y2Mi03YWVkLTQ0MjItYWI2MS1hM2ZjNmNlNzg3OGEiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OWQ5NGQ4NGNjNGQxMTczMjY1OTg1YjgiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyMGE1ZWFmZmRmMTMxNjNkMDg5MTNkL2pheS1mcmFtcy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTRfXzAtOC00Mi5tcDMifQ==.mp3
Audio file: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/fc55b01795d377ba5a680faca75d60fd265384c2201a15914265ece9360f1d1b/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJjNzMwZjFhYy03YmE3LTRkMjUtODY1OS1jNTJjMDJjMTQ0NzEiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI4OWY4Y2Y2Mi03YWVkLTQ0MjItYWI2MS1hM2ZjNmNlNzg3OGEiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OWQ5NGQ4NGNjNGQxMTczMjY1OTg1YjgiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyMGE1ZWFmZmRmMTMxNjNkMDg5MTNkL2pheS1mcmFtcy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTRfXzAtOC00Mi5tcDMifQ==.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/continuous-agitation-7876047/episodes/let-them-eat-cake
Duration seconds: 2538

## Resource

Is usage licensing dead? Not exactly. But the business it was built for doesn't really exist anymore. Print is all but gone. Social media now accounts for 80% (!) of ad spend in the US. Clients want the C word [rhymes with shmontent] by the dump truck load and there are ten times as many people willing to shoot it. @asksternrep , a prominent photo rep with an excellent advice page, recently posted a follower’s question on her Instagram feed and the comment section got real spicy. Her advice to photographers losing bids over usage: be the best photographer you can be, and clients will pay for limited licensing. Will they though? We try to unpack what actually happened to the commercial photography market, why work-for-hire is the real threat, and why "hold the line on licensing" is good advice for 5% of photographers all of the time, a few more photographers some of the time, but never all photographers all of the time. "Telling photographers to do better is an outdated answer to a structural shift in the industry." Links: @asksternrep — Andrea Stern’s (generally) great advice resource on Instagram ASMP — American Society of Media Photographers Find us: Follow Jay on Instagram: @jayfram Follow Bill on Instagram and Threads: @sawalich Read Bill's newsletter, Art + Math: artandmath.substack.com Jay's photography: jayfram.com Bill's photography: sawalich.com Write to us: jay@jayfram.com / bill@sawalich.com Rate and review Continuous Agitation on Apple Podcasts — it actually helps.

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## Transcript

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