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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
NEW From Getty: The end of stock photo income for many
Brad Mangin, Photographer
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Pleasanton | CA | USA | Posted: 11:11 AM on 02.02.10 |
->> Getty images has just launched a new site offering "a comprehensive collection of select royalty-free photos, vectors and illustrations from Getty Images, iStockphoto and Jupiterimages."
If you visit the new site (http://www.thinkstockphotos.com) you will see that a one month subscription costs just $249 and for that you get:
* 25 images a day / 750 images a month
* Fresh content added weekly
* All available file types and sizes
* Flexible payment options
* Discounts for additional users
That equals 33 cents a picture if you max out your plan sports fans.
This collection does not contain editorial/sports images, but does it really matter?
Bottom line- the value of the photographs we produce continues to spiral down the toilet.
To all the suits and corporate business-types in the world who make these decisions at places like Getty I say this: "I don't like you very much." |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 12:08 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Brad You have to stop giving Getty too much credit...you can sign up for a yearly deal and get it for $0.28 per picture :(
I'm with you and agree with your feelings...you would have thought, that with a company the size/power of Getty, they would have done everything in their power to keep prices up. Instead they have consistently done the opposite.
Delane |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 12:56 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Aren't you supposed to raise your prices after you corner a given market?
Isn't that Basic Business 101?
They've bought up much of the content out there, and people continue to search Getty first for images (in most cases). They've built their brand. They've built their reputation. They have thousands of great photos. Now they decide to devalue it needlessly.
This affects the prices of the rights-managed stuff as well. See how many of those they sell now. Why on earth would you try to devalue the product that you're trying so hard to sell? Why do they continue to play this silly, "We'll make it up in volume game?"
Thanks Getty. Another brilliant move. |
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Grover Sanschagrin, Photographer, Photo Editor
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San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 1:10 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Brad - not so fast.
Melcher's blog mentions that editorial images will eventually be included:
http://blog.melchersystem.com/2010/02/01/the-new-end/
Getty doesn't care about old-school stock photographers. They are too expensive and complain too much. They figure they can do everything just fine with the army of hobbyists who fill the iStockphoto pipeline.
Now I am wondering what's in store for RM image licenses. Will they be phased out by the market? If someone wants a unique, high quality image that they can't find in this RM/Microstock site, why not just commission a photographer to shoot it just for you? (And then insist that they must "own" the image, or you don't get the assignment.)
So it'll be either RF for pennies, or assignment where you give up your rights for a one-time fee.
This type of arrangement would work well for Getty. They could get rid of most of their hugely expensive sales staff, and cut costs dramatically. The fact that image prices are taking a nose dive doesn't matter to them just as long as their expenses are going down right along with them. |
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Grover Sanschagrin, Photographer, Photo Editor
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San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 1:11 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Whoops... typo... I mean't:
"that they can't find in this RF/Microstock site"
:-) |
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Bradly J. Boner, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Jackson | WY | USA | Posted: 2:22 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Getty has contacted me twice in the last 18 months saying they've reviewed my website and they thought my images were "perfect for their royalty-model."
Needless to say I don't think their royalty-free model is anywhere close to "perfect." |
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Kevin Krows, Photographer
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Forsyth | IL | USA | Posted: 2:29 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Brad --
Business opportunity??? Not everyone shops at the dollar store! SS Stock Images,Inc.
When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make Margaritas!!! |
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Grover Sanschagrin, Photographer, Photo Editor
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San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 3:33 PM on 02.02.10 |
| ->> Kevin - Margaritas are made with limes, though. Are you suggesting we get the rest of the world to change the recipe? |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington/Normal | IL | United States | Posted: 4:00 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Maybe a little OT...
I caught just enough of the Grammy's the other night (and pardon me, I don't know this guy’s name) to hear one of the organizers giving a speech reminding the public to support the professional performers in a monetary way that would enable them to continue to perform. He went on to say that short of doing so would make the up and coming artists seek different types of employment leaving the entertaining to the likes of the hobbyist or mediocre.
Same may be said of this industry. A lot has been said of part-timers, GWC's, new comers, under-cutters and the like, but they may have less to do with the demise of the industry than decisions like this one. |
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Kevin Krows, Photographer
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Forsyth | IL | USA | Posted: 5:07 PM on 02.02.10 |
| ->> Grover -- not exactly. Just suggesting we get the world to understand the difference between lemons and limes and how much better a margarita tastes when you use the right ingredients. Some may not care ... others will. |
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Shawn Lynch, Photographer
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New York | New York | USA | Posted: 5:53 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Brad,
"the value of the photographs we produce continues to spiral down the toilet..." only if we let others decide what they are to pay for those images. The professionals will figure out how to make their images retain their value even while others are giving away photos for free. |
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Luke Sharrett, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Washington | DC | United States | Posted: 6:43 PM on 02.02.10 |
| ->> Getty is on flickr too. Thousands of amateur photographers submit their favorite images to Getty everyday, in hopes that Getty will sell their photos for 5 bucks a pop. |
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August Miller, Photo Editor
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Farmington | UT | USA | Posted: 7:11 PM on 02.02.10 |
| ->> Our industry like so many others is suffering from the "free syndrome"----A lot of us want everything "free" off the internet. Companies want everything "free" so they can increase their profit margin. Common sense dictates that the "free" ride can only go on so long before some sort of economic and social adjustment takes place. We all know that the industries that make this current "free" content can't survive on "free'. At some point the pendulum will swing the other way as two things happen. Companies run out of places and people who will do it for less than zero, and the content becomes so devalued the consumer will no longer "want" it. |
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Steve King, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Ann Arbor | MI | USA | Posted: 9:52 PM on 02.02.10 |
->> Are we truly entering what Andrew Keen called "The Cult of the Amateur" and how the internet is killing our culture?
Misquoted as he may have been, PT Barnum was a genius, this proves there is a sucker born every minute, and that ignorance is bliss. |
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 12:31 AM on 02.03.10 |
->> It looks like Getty has realized that the market didn't have any corners so they're basing their business model on distribution of commodity images. What else can they do? They've so successfully driven the market down that what they own is virtually valueless.
--Mark |
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Dave Lintott, Photographer
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Wellington | Well | NZL | Posted: 12:59 PM on 02.03.10 |
->> getty have efficiently quashed freelance editorial in NZ and continue to aggressively undercut any competitors with cut-price deals. whilst the photographers who work for them are just doing their job, the lovely folk who negotiate these deals have absolutely no interest in promoting the industry. i'm a little tired of companies asking for photos for free - and it's easy to see why. the sad thing is that there are hordes of amateur photographers who help out getty by offering photos for free, which especially here in New Zealand just helps wipe out editorial freelance photography.
mcdonalds are always hiring, though. |
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Kevin Krows, Photographer
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Forsyth | IL | USA | Posted: 4:43 AM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> Just looked at some baseball and football images on thinkstockphotos. They'll give Microsoft Clip Art a real run for their money. |
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Albert McCracken, Photographer
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Lockport | NY | USA | Posted: 1:04 PM on 02.04.10 |
->> Here is my E-mail that I send to Getty. A simple question... Ummm, do you think I'm been brush off.
'Getty=012-021-108'Question?
...
From:
Getty Images Sales
...
Add to Contacts
To: albert mccracken
Getty Images thanks you for your email. We strive to respond to all email inquiries within one business day. If your issue cannot wait that long, please click the 'contact us' link at the top of any of our web pages, or follow the link below.
http://www.gettyimages.com/Corporate/ContactUs.aspx
-----Original Message-----
From: albert mccracken [atm3332@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, Feb 2 2010 3:14PM
To: Getty Images Sales [GettyImagesSales@gettyimages.com]
Subject: Question?
Dear: Sales
What is the percentage for the photographer and your company? And what is your prices for the stock images? And are you looking for staff or freelance photographer?
Photographer
Albert T. McCracken Jr. |
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