Why is there such a big difference between the actual number of images on the Getty site and the number keyworded with an orientation? Getty responds.
In their drive to address the needs of the 3% of stock photography customers with the biggest budgets, RM sellers have ignored microstock buyers. They should be exploring new strategies, and viewing these buyers as an opportunity to expand their customer base and grow revenue.
Some photographers on the iStock (IS) forum are having great fun pointing out that they make more on iStock than the average Alamy photographer. They focus on the statement I made that "the average gross RPI for all images on the (Alamy) site is about $2.80." Since Alamy photographers get at least a 65% royalty, that comes out to a photographer royalty of about $1.80 per image annually.
Getty Images is on the auction block, hoping to be sold for more than $1.5 billion. Final bids are due by the end of January, but people briefed on the situation cautioned that it is unclear which firms would submit. Among those companies showing interest are private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital.
According to WPP, the world's largest media buyer, the Internet advertising spend in Sweden in 2008 will surpass spending for television advertising. The same is expected to happen in the UK and Denmark in 2009.
On Jan. 14, Alamy posted a video of an event they hosted for contributors in November. During the presentation, CEO James West provided details relative to sales of the top 100 photographers and agencies represented on the site.
RM sellers have focused on the top of the market for so long they have lost sight of the whole market for stock photography. It's time for some outside-the-box thinking.
There appears to be little or no growth in the volume of uses at traditional prices. In addition, there is reason to believe volumes will decline. The dilemma for RM producers is how to expand their customer base without losing revenue from existing high-end customers.
Masterfile's Steve Pigeon recently made the comment, "The stock photo industry has been democratized to the extent where anyone can now be a contributing photographer, and anyone can afford to be a client. This is a good thing." The real problem is that few, if any, traditional sellers are developing systems to effectively take advantage of this trend.