We only know that Getty Images has decided to sell the company.
If they will make 1.5 billion dollars it´s not really very important.
Even though somebody could wonder why they want to sell it right now with the share at $25 when two years ago it was $93!
What should be important for everyone in the business is the meaning of this sale and why at Getty they have decided to sell.
Even more important is to understand what will be the effect of this operation for the business.
If they sell why do they sell? To understand why is very important to foresee what might happen.
There are rumors that they could sell parts of the company to different buyers and this will mean the end of the global photo agency, and the admission that it was a mistake not to allow all the agencies they bought to pursue their very own business, even when competing under the same roof.
It´s also important to recognize that it´s the end of the dream to dominate the market and to be the only one real photo agency in the world.
Other times I´ve said how impossible it is for big photo agencies to work closely with photographers who are the core of the business.
But again the most important thing is to see what will happen after the sale.
Will it be the starting point for new mid-sized photo agencies?
The microstock photo agencies, will they take advantage?
Prices will go up? Will they stay stable?
What will happen to the hundreds of Getty employees?
My opinion is that the sale is the turning point for the industry and after this nothing will remain like it was before.
Pino Granata
Pino Granata is the founder of Granata Images. Granata Images is now run by his sons and Pino works as editorial and stock photo consultant. He is been working in this industry since 44 years.
Related:
- Pino Granata: Publicists, vile damned race! (Jan. 15, 2008)
- Pino Granata: Much Ado About Nothing (Jan. 08, 2008)
- Pino Granata: Who's afraid of Getty Images and company? (Dec. 12, 2007)
- Pino Granata: Hollywood, I'm shocked! (Nov. 15, 2007)
- Ceterum Censeo: Pino Granata´s THE PHOTO MARKET IS SICK (Nov. 01, 2007)
- Potere Fotografico: The Power of Photography (Oct. 24, 2007)
- Ceterum Censeo: Pino Granata´s NOTHING TO CELEBRATE (Oct. 18, 2007)
- Pino Granata: The Rise and Fall of Getty Images (Aug. 06, 2007)
- Pino Granta: Everybody wins but not the photographers (July 23, 2007)
- Pino Granata: I´m so sad for Alexandra Boulat (July 23, 2007)
- Ceterum Censeo: Pino Granata´s We are not butchers (July 04, 2007)
- Ceterum Censeo: Pino Granata´s It's time to react (June 30, 2007)
- Ceterum Censeo: Pino Granata on SnapVillage by Corbis (June 26, 2007)
- Pino Granata: CEPIC - Time for a Change (June 21, 2007)
- Letters from Italy with Pino Granata´s Ceterum censeo: The Stars Look Down (Feb. 23, 2007)
- Letters from Italy: Pino Granata´s Ceterum censeo on Corbis entering the Microstock Business (Feb. 18, 2007)
- Pino Granata: Who is the Dinosaur? (Feb. 06, 2007)
- Sipa Press Founder Goksin Sipahioglu Receives Premier French Order Légion d'honneur - A Comment By Pino Granata (Jan. 26, 2007)
- Pino Granata: Two Worlds Apart (Jan. 10, 2007)
- Picade, The New Photographer-Driven Stock Photo Agency: Forget RF Licensing, Photo Portals and Microstock (Nov. 28, 2006)
- A New Photographic Renaissance, by Pino Granata (Oct. 31, 2006)
- "Just fly in a different direction" (Oct. 10, 2006)
- The Bill Gates Mystery: An Open Letter From Pino Granata To The Founder Of Corbis (Oct. 03, 2006)
- "Is There A Future For Stock Agents?" (Sept. 20, 2006, by Jim Pickerell, Story 873, subscription required).
- Pino Granata: "Is there any future for photographers and agents?" (Sept. 16, 2006)
- Jason Pagan Launches Alternative Photojournalism Agency Anarchy Images (July 18, 2006)
They are probably selling now because it is a good time to sell off green widgets and buy purple widgets (or retire to a comfortable home in Spain).
Jim Batty
Posted by: Jim Batty | Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 11:26 AM