StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

QuickLinks For 2009-08-25

• Stock Firms Profit From Cost Efficiencies:
  In an economic climate of wilting ad revenues and viewer fragmentation, the bill for an original shoot is simply tougher than ever to justify when a cheaper version already exists, according to Mona Kanin, regional director of the NY office for Framepool.
  Not all microstock companies compile lists of broadcasters who use their service, but anecdotal evidence is telling. iStockphoto's footage has appeared on Nightline, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and in ads for the John McCain campaign as well as in music videos and promos.
  Shutterstock's content has been used by A&E, CBS News Marketing, and VH1's Save the Music campaign, among others. As Oringer says: “They've found it to be an affordable library for them, and they've been able to find what they've needed at prices they've never seen before.”
  Broadcasting & Cable.

Dreamstime adjusts Royalties and Pricing

"Similar on getting married, trust someone after the long run not on your first date" (on page five here). In a move long expected and with respect to the highly competitive market long, long overdue, Dreamstime has revamped its royalty and pricing structure with some interesting details.

While some contribitors usually have ambivalent feelings anywhere about these changes ("credit royalties will decrease"), the "repositioning" enables DT "to attract more buyers with the extra budget": "for 5 years we've kept a royalty of 50% for all non exclusives against 20% which was the minimum of the industry. The agency awarding you 20% had bigger prices than us and lower commissions. Which means better budgets to drive traffic."

 

 

Somehow it didn´t work out with Betta than Vetta

More on the “Betta than Vetta cease and desist Letta” from John. -Related details here.

Serban Enache on Dreamstime and Facebook

Following the news about the cooperation between Dreamstime and MySpace from last autumn, the next new cooperation with Facebook was early discussed.

So I asked Serban down-to-earth about the benefits:

"We have always been loyal to the community element that promoted Dreamstime as a leader in stock photography. Ignoring the potential of social networking would be unwise, especially considering our history.

Recent stats conducted by Nielsen show that over 2/3 of the Internet population is using social networking nowadays and that the means of communication have switched here against email. Compete has ranked Facebook as the most popular social network followed by MySpace. The two websites advertise together over half of billion registered users."

Alamy's financial statement for Q2/2009

Full overview here.

 

 

New Web and Mobile images from Getty Images

Full overview here.

Andy Saunders, VP Creative@Getty Images: “Image buyers developing web and mobile content often need hundreds of images at smaller file sizes. With our new Web & Mobile products, we’re able to provide these customers with access to our vast collection of RF and premium RM imagery at the right size and price.” (DA UK)

BJP: All of Getty’s creative imagery house collections and archives will be available in the new sizes. However, it will not be the case with some of Getty’s partners' collections.

The 170 and 280-pixel files will only be available for online usage, says Saunders in a bid to reassure photographers that the lower prices won’t affect traditional sales. ‘It’s a change of approach, but we can’t let the value part of the market be taken on only by microstock companies.’

Saunders adds that the new pricing structure should not affect iStockphoto. ‘This area of the market is large. Customers will now be able to use Getty’s content at a better price. Our range of imagery is different from what iStockphoto offers. People will be able to buy from both sites.’

QuickLinks For 2009-08-04

• Late summer Free Images Madness:

  1. Stock.xchng:
  Breaking News - 400,000 images!
  (July 20, 2009. Related News)

  2. PhotoXpress:
  Offering over 400,000 free professional high-resolution images and illustrations, PhotoXpress.com has officially become the largest online supplier of free stock imagery.
  (August 04, 2009. The website says "443,951 photos")

  3. Free Stock Images:
  Google Trends shows people searching for stock images is declining year on year.
  (Source)

• Late summer Gossip Madness:
  Bruce Livingstone, who founded online stock-photography provider iStockphoto, paid $2.5 million for a landmark midcentury Los Angeles home that was on the market very briefly. The 1966 home, on a slope in the Los Feliz community, has been given landmark status by Los Angeles.
  Mr. Livingstone, 38, bought the house including much of the artwork and furnishings, by designers including Isamu Noguchi, Herman Miller and Arne Jacobsen. “It’s a bit of a time capsule,” said Mr. Livingstone who is relocating with his family from Seattle to Los Angeles for a digital media venture.