Some acquisitions have far wider implications than others. While it made perfect sense for Shutterstock to acquire a company like Rex Features in order to grab a foothold in the editorial space, it was just that. A simple acquisition of content along with established corresponding sales channels. Shutterstock recent acquisition of FlashStock, however, is vastly different. When a … Read More →
Word on the street was that if Getty sneezed, the industry was sick. But what about Shutterstock? Has it taken a dominant enough position in the marketplace to become the health barometer of stock photography? Is this week’s quarterly report, covering a less than stellar quarter along with a less optimistic forecast, a sign of a general slowdown … Read More →
At a recent DMLA panel I organized, Craig Peters, COO of Getty Images, pointed out that the vast majority of image consumption happens in places where images are not licensed. Which is true: People spend more time on various social media sites than anywhere else. Just Snapchat ( 8,796 photos shared per second), Whatsapp (8,102 Photos … Read More →
For most of the 80’s and throughout the early 2000’s, the recurring motto in the stock photo industry was “It’s the content, idiot”. Key to any growth of photo agencies and successful career of any photographer was the ability to offer great content. Rule number one was to appeal to clients and crush the competition by creating upscale, high … Read More →
The year has not been kind for the editorial space and as result, photo agencies have continued to suffer. The market continues to see decreasing space rates along with print publications shutting down. Once the kingdom of Rights managed and exclusives, it is now a vast flat plain of yearly unlimited subscriptions and royalty free. Yet, … Read More →
As the flow of news coming out of the stock photo industry major – and not so major – players keep on pushing one press release after the other, it is always good to take a step back and analyze trends. It’s been a hectic first six months of 2016 and if its any indication, … Read More →
The issue seemed simple enough: Find a photo of a green landscape with a clean blue sky, add the company’s logo and tagline and post it on the homepage of the site. Sure, they could easily find an inexpensive photo that matched their need but after that, emptiness. For a small company with no in-house … Read More →
Rumors have been rampant for a while. First Shutterstock was believed to be the buyer, a rumor quickly killed by no other than Jon Oringer himself during their last quarterly report. At the last DMLA conference, the target moved to China Visual Group and remained there. It is confirmed today: LOS ANGELES & BEIJING–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Corbis … Read More →
I was recently invited to speak at B&H Photo Video . Here is the resulting podcast: “Anyone, I mean, anyone can submit their photos for sale in the stock-photography market. (Are you a foaper?) But the question remains: is it worth it? No doubt, the industry has been transformed by corporate conglomeration and digital technology but, while … Read More →
Although they circle at different speeds, have different sizes and even differ in their composition, some planets happen to periodically align themselves so perfectly that it is possible, from earth, to see them on the same horizon. This is what happened a few weeks ago with Venus, Jupiter and Mars. In a rare coincidence, the … Read More →