Looking the other way

August 6, 2007 by pmelcher.

Why is that ?: Corbis decision to launch SnapVillage after firing 160 employees makes as much sense as Ford Motor company launching a fast food franchise. Who at Corbis decided that creating a new business was a good idea when they have yet to post a profit from the “old” one ( you know, the traditional licensing one)? Does that mean that it will cannibalize their losses ? At least they can take comfort in the recent events at Getty and for once, claim they were ahead of the game.
A quarter more: Getty’s decision to go multimedia is a dangerous one. Those who see photography as the smaller sister of video, as the one with no arms, could have been the same as those who said that photography is the mature sister of painting and drawing. Video is not the evolution of stills and the two are as far apart as photography and drawing. It is a common misconception to believe that photography is just video with no sound or movement and one that leads to fatal mistakes. Furthermore, I did not read, in all the Getty quarterly report commentary, anyone questioning its approach to consumer based revenue. Although I did write a post about this a while back, it seems that Getty is stepping in the field of some of its customers and will become competition to them.

Will Corbis announce same ?

It also very interesting to read commentaries who declare that the Seattle based company with the CEO that is moving to New York will save $20 million a year thanks to the lay off. But how much will they loose ? Does that mean these people where not generating any revenue at all ? At least some cashed in their stock before the announcement.
Other tidbits from the financial media where also of interest, like this one on Forbes, talking about Getty bright outlook: “However, Ashley said Getty still remains the dominant player in the industry and has an attractive business model, since most of its images are owned by independent photographers and are created at their expense.” For one, this is the business model of all photo agencies, and second doesn’t that also mean they can leave at any time ?

Finally, no one should rejoice on Getty’s hardship. To paraphrase a French saying about Renault, If Getty sneezes, the whole industry gets sick. Maybe this guy can help Jonathan Klein raise his profits margin…

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