Getty Images has decided to pull all its RF images from its Netherlands distributors in order to "add value" to its wholly owned office in that territory. But will the move help Getty or empower distributors?
Zenith Optimedia expects 2007 U.S. ad-spending growth to be just 2.5%, down from the 3.7% expansion the company foresaw as recently as last summer. But the situation for still photographers trying to sell images for ad use might be worse than anticipated.
OnRequest has abandoned it's "custom stock" format. The company is now focused on dealing with large corporate customers, the end users of the images, not ad agencies. The emphasis is on building custom libraries.
For many photographers, gross revenue might still be strong, despite a falloff in U.S. sales. The goal is to find work overseas, since the Euro is stronger than the dollar.
The book publishing industry has changed dramatically in the last decade or so and the stock photo industry has struggled to keep up with those changes. The biggest problem has been in establishing reasonable prices for increased circulation.
Recently, when Alamy reported estimated 2007 revenues of $28 million, I speculated they were the fourth-largest seller of stock images in the world after Getty, Corbis and Jupiterimages. New information about Japan's amanaimages places them in fourth place and moves Alamy to fifth.
Both Corbis and Alamy adjust their prices based on image size and circulation. This makes sense to book publishers because that is the way they have priced usage for decades. Yes, publishers want to be able to print an image in more copies than originally anticipated, and include electronic uses, which Alamy offers for an additional 50% and is included in Corbis' price. But is it necessary to give larger uses away?
Recently, Corbis announced it would be cutting 125 positions over the next several months, based on regional and local considerations. This is on top of the June announcement to eliminate 160 positions resulting from the closing down of its assignment business and the decision to sell its digital asset management division.
Everyone talks about the need for a simple pricing structure, but at present, it isn't happening. Somehow, we need to find a way to make all images available to all buyers at prices each can afford without giving images away to those who can justify paying more. It's time for major modifications.
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, online ad revenues in the U.S. exceeded $5.2 billion in Q3 2007. In the first nine months of the year, online advertisers spent $15.1 billion, a 26% increase over the $12.1 billion for the same period in 2006.