Included in this issue: Kai Chiang Announces The Launch Of Golden Pixels; Corbis Acquires Australian Picture Library; iStockphoto Localizes Site For French, German & Spanish Buyers; NPPA Partners With Digital Railroad; Photo Industry Association to Collaborate On Areas of Mutual Interest; The Virtual Picture Desk Expands Into Europe
This edition contains items on: AP Takes Aim On Editorial Stock Users; Industry Slowdown; Attitude of Many Micropayment Sellers; Online Ad Revenue Grows 37 Percent; Art Directors Speak Out; Alamy Changes Rate Structures; Corbis To Handle Veer's Solus Imagery; Corbis Outline Senior Staff Move; Corbis Names Brotman VP Licensing Ventures and What's A Photo Worth?
Bruce Livingstone, CEO of iStockphoto, gave the following keynote address at the German Multi Media Congress, in Stuttgart, Germany last month. He discussed how iStockphoto got started, how online communities work and "the real possibilities that come from massive groups of seemingly disconnected people, working together, for different reasons."
The Orphan Works bill (the Copyright Modernization Act of 2006, HR 6052) has been withdrawn from committee for this year but there is a great likelihood that something similar will be introduced in the new Congress beginning next year.
Roger Ressmeyer tells of a usage currently in negotiation for one image where the starting price is $4 Million and why that price is justified. He also offers suggestions as to what photographers and agents need to do in general to push prices up.
This edition has short items on: What Are Photographs Worth?; Some Thoughts About Microstock; GDUSA Survey; Other Micropayment News; Magazine Closing and Getty Images Adds AP Video.
Pino Granata of Granataimages in Italy, has circulated a letter to agency owners in Europe and the U.S. lamenting the trends the stock photo business has taken and questioning the future potential. I agree with his concerns and have responded to many of the points he makes in his letter.
Recently a reader pointed out, "In the past you've been negative on the potential for stock photo industry growth in terms of pricing and volumes. Currently, are you seeing any likelihood of improvement in these areas?" This story outlines why I see little to no chance for improvement in the short or long term.
This is a brief history of stock photography examining how it started and how it got to where it is today. I have tried to chronicle the key events and changes that have taken place in the last 80 years, in hopes that understanding the past will enable us to avoid repeating some of the same mistakes in the future.
Corbis has reported its revenue numbers for the first half of 2006 and CEO Steve Davis told Wall Street analysts that we have "just had the best two quarters in history." The company generated approximately $127 million up from $111.6 million in the first half of 2005. Projecting first-half revenue forward for the full year Corbis should gross in excess of $254 million for 2006, up from $228 million in 2005.
This issue contains the following stories: Micro Payment; Who Uses iStockphoto?; $.25 Per Download Adds Up????; Getty Has Record Revenue Q2 2006; Where Does Riser Fit?; Alamy Reports Record Growth In Supply; Footage Market; More On Footage; Online Ad Spending Up
Getty has launched its Riser brand that offers Rights-Ready (RR) pricing. The price for image use in Printed Marketing Material or Product/Packaging is $800. So far there are 64,770 images available, but it looks like this includes a lot of similars. For example there are 16 shots of a woman sitting at a desk that differ only in slight variations of expression.
Discovery Selects Getty Images To Distribute Footage And Photography, Lonely Planet And Navman Create Interactive Online Travel Guide, Photolibrary Acquires ABPL Food File, TemplateMonster.com Partners With Fotolia.com, Adobe Adds Collections, Corbis Appoints Co-Directors Of Outline, Marcus Benkwitz Becomes New Plainpicture Partner
Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) has written its membership expressing concerns about Getty's plans to launch its Rights-Ready collection called Riser. The issues center around the right of Getty to make images available through Riser without specific photographer approval, and the perpetual duration of licenses.
a21, Inc. has reported $4,511,000 in revenues for Q2 2006, but only $3,023,000 of that was for the stock photo side of the business. ArtSelect which provides wall art for homes and businesses provided $1,488,000 in revenue in less that a month and a half. ArtSelect earned approximately $12 million in 2005 and would be expected to earn about $3 million in a full quarter, equal to what the stock photo side of the business generates.
Industry observers are intrigued by the Getty Images announcement of it's new "Rights-Ready" (RR) licensing model and are anxious for more information so they can determine exactly where it fits and what impact it will have on the industry. The new collection of images available for this type of licensing will be called Riser.
Jupitermedia has reported revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2006 of $35 million up from $33.9 million in the previous quarter and compared to revenues of $29.1 million for the same period last year. The image division revenues were up only $242,000 from the previous quarter. The company's stock ended the day after the announcement at $6.59, down almost 30%.
This is a brief history of stock photography examining how it started and how it got to where it is today. I have tried to chronicle the key events and changes that have taken place in the last 80 years, in hopes that understanding the past will enable us to avoid repeating some of the same mistakes in the future.
This edition has short items on: iStockphoto Moves to Sell Footage -- Seeks Contributors; Corbis Files Lawsuit Against TemplateMonster and Ultravetex.com; Getty And Search Marketing; Getty Announces New Photographer's Choice Procedures; Redux Pictures To Represent New York Times Stock Images and Display Advertising On Web.
This edition contains stories on: Getty Images Announces New 'Rights-Ready' Licensing Model, Index Provides Images For Cell Phone Wallpaper, CEPIC And BVPA Collaborate On IPTC Metadata Standards, ScienceFaction.net Completes Web Site.
Alamy added 711,939 new images to its site in Q2 2006, a drop in supply from the previous quarter, and ended the quarter with almost 6 million images in its database. The average price of an RF image was $226 and the average price for RM images dropped for the fourth straight quarter to $151.
There probably is no typical iStockphoto user or supplier, but looking at the experiences of one early adopter may be helpful. Doug Nelson
is a graphic designer who joined iStockphoto in July 2003. He is both a buyer and a seller of pictures. He uses about 25 images a month mostly on web design projects.
Getty Images reported record revenue for Q2 2006 of $204.8 million compared to $185.3 million for Q2 2005, but did not meet analysts expectations. Despite revenue growth in every region and every product line, the market drove the stock down to $45.12, an 18% drop, by the end of the first business day after the announcement. This is the lowest the stock has been since December 2003.
Can any photographer make money selling pictures for $1.00 each? The answer is a qualified yes. This story provides some surprising statistics from some of the top producers. It also points out how micro payments is working for some photographers depending on their expectations.
This edition includes: More On Footage from Phil Bates of Artbeat; Jupiter Launches Micropayment Site in Japan; Getty Gets Creative In Going After Jupiter's Customers; Online Ad Spending Up; NBC Universal To Use Digital Railroad For Image Distribution; and $0.25 Downloads Add Up???