Stock Photo Industry Leaders - Revised

Posted on 1/29/2008 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (8)

Stock Photo Industry Leaders - Revised

Earlier this month, I put together a list of what I believed were the world's leading picture libraries and portals. Given that most companies in this industry are privately held and do not reveal their annual turnover, it is extremely difficult to accurately gage the size, and relative position of one to another. Despite this obstacle, it is useful for image producers and sellers to know the major players. This revised list takes into account the many additions and corrections submitted by readers and provides a more accurate reflection of the industry than my initial one.

In order to provide a general idea of the relative size of various companies, I have divided them into three categories:

Group A - gross annual sales in excess of $20 million

Group B - annual sales between $5 and $20 million

Group C - annual sales between $1 and $5 million.

In my opinion, all companies not included on this list have gross annual sales of less than $1 million. Where possible, I have added a link to the company's Web site.

In Group A, I have listed the companies based on size, with Getty Images selling the most in this category, and Aflo of Japan selling the least, but still more than $20 million. Groups B and C are organized in alphabetical order, because it is more difficult to gage actual gross revenue generated by these companies.

The order is based entirely on the company's licensing of still imagery and does not include other lines of business. For example, I did not consider revenue from Getty's footage business, Jupitermedia's online information division or a21's fine art print division.

The order is based on what I believe these companies report as gross revenue, not necessarily the gross license fees of the images in their collections. For example, an agency like Image Source has images on Getty Images and many other portals. An ImageSource image may sell on Getty for $100, but Image Source may only receive and report 30% (or so) of that money. Getty will report 100% of this sale on its books, meaning that a certain percentage of the revenue is counted twice.

I may still have missed some companies or placed them in the wrong category. Please add suggested changes to the comments section of this site, or contact me directly.

GROUP A - Over $20 million  
Getty ImagesUSAwww.gettyimages.com
(plus iStockphoto)Canadawww.istockphoto.com
(plus Punchstock)USAwww.punchstock.com
CorbisUSAwww.corbis.com
(plus Veer)Canadawww.veer.com
JupiterimagesUSAwww.jupiterimages.com
Associated PressUSAwww.apimages.com
AmanaJapanwww.amana.jp
MasterfileCanadawww.masterfile.com
ReutersUKI
DPA PhotoGermanywww.dpa.de/en/produkte/bild/index.html
AlamyUKwww.alamy.com
PhotolibraryAustraliawww.photolibrary.com
Image SourceUKwww.imagesource.com
AfloJapanwww.aflo.com
   
GROUP B - $5 to $20 million  
A21 (formerly SuperStock)USAwww.superstock.com
Action PressGermanywww.actionpress.de
AFPFrancewww.afp.com
AGESpainwww.age.com
AlinariItaliwww.alinari.it
ANPNetherlandswww.anp.com
BlendUSAwww.blendimages.com
Bridgeman ArchivesUKwww.bridgeman.co.uk
Camera PressUKwww.camerapress.com
ContrastoItalywww.contrasto.it
DreamstimeUSAwww.dreamstime.com
Eyedea (Hachette Photos)Francewww.eyedeaphotos.com
fotosearch.comUSAwww.fotosearch.com
FotoliaFrancewww.fotolia.com
Grazia NeriItalywww.grazianeri.com
Hollandse HoogteNetherlandswww.hollandse-hoogte.nl
Images.comUSAwww.images.com
JohnerSwedenwww.johner.se
KeystoneSwitzerlandwww.keystone.ch
LaifGermanywww.laif.de
Latin StockSouth Americawww.latinstock.com
Magnum PhotosUSAwww.magnumphotos.com
MauritiusGermanywww.mauritius-images.com
OlycomItalywww.olycom.it
Panorama MediaChinawww.quanjing.com
Photo AltoFrancewww.photoalto.com
PhotononstopFrancewww.photononstop.com
Picture PressGermanywww.picturepress.de
Rex FeaturesUKwww.rexfeatures.co.uk
ScanpixScandinaviawww.scanpix.com
Science Photo LibraryUKwww.sciencephoto.com
ShutterstockUSAwww.shutterstock.com
   
GROUP C - $1 to $5 million  
Adobe Stock PhotosUSA
Agence BIOSFrancewww.biosphoto.com
AKG InternationalGermanywww.akg-images.fr
All Over PressScandinaviawww.alloverpress.se
AltrendoGermany
ANSAItalywww.ansa.it
APA/ContrastAustriawww.picturedesk.com
Asia ImagesSingaporewww.asia-images.com
Avenue ImagesGermanywww.avenueimages.com
BilberbergGermanywww.bilderberg.de
BSIPFrancewww.bsip.com
De Agostini Picture LibraryItalywww.deagostini.it
Dorling KindersleyUKwww.dkimages.com
EastNewsPolandwww.eastnews.pl
fStopGermanywww.fstop.com
FirstlightCanadawww.firstlight.com
GlowimagesUSAwww.glowimages.com
Granata ImagesItalywww.granataimages.com
Great Stock!South Africawww.greatstock.co.za
Image ClickKoreawww.imageclick.com
ImagineChinaChinawww.imaginechina.com
The Image WorksUSAwww.theimageworks.com
La PresseItalywww.lapresse.it
MarkaItalywww.marka.it
MattonDenmarkwww.matton.com
Minden PicturesUSAwww.mindenpictures.com
MoodboardUKwww.moodboard.com
National GeographicUSAwww.ngsimages.com
Nature Picture LibraryUKwww.naturepicturelibrary.com
NewscomUSAwww.newscom.com
Panoramic ImagesUSAwww.panoramicimages.com
PhotobankRussia
Photo Bank YokohamaJapanwww.pby.jp
PhotomovieItalywww.photomovie.it
Photo ResearchersUSAwww.photoresearchers.com
PhotoTakeUSAwww.phototakeusa.com
plainpictureGermanywww.plainpicture.de
PremiumGermanywww.premium.de
PrismaSwitzerlandwww.prisma.com
Radial PressSpainwww.radialpress.com
ReportersFrancewww.reporters.com
Robert HardingUKwww.robertharding.com
Roger-ViolletFrancewww.roger-viollet.fr
RubberballUSAwww.rubberball.com
SIPAFrancewww.sipa.fr
StockFoodUSA & Germanywww.stockfood.com
SuperbildGermanywww.superbild.de
Tetra ImagesUSAwww.tetraimages.com
Time-Life Picture LibraryUSAwww.timelifepictures.com
TopFotoUKwww.topfoto.co.uk
Topic PhotoKoreawww.topicphoto.com
Visuals UnlimitedUSAwww.visualsunlimited.com
ZUMAUSAwww.zumapress.com


Copyright © 2008 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

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