News
Paul Melcher to lead image aggregator CompassPix in North America
CompassMedia, LLC based in New York City, has appointed seventeen-year stock industry veteran Paul Melcher as CEO of its online image aggregator venture, CompassPix.com. In a press-release announcing the appointment, Melcher makes the bold, attention-getting statement, “Getty Images' business model is obsolete. CompassMedia's solutions will level the playing field by forever changing the way the photo industry does business.” The release further describes its CompassPix service as an online portal for stock images that offers “over 6 million images from 25 photo agencies worldwide.”
The idea that a new, landscape-altering business model might emerge seems possible in this current environment of fast-paced technological innovation. Nonetheless, online image aggregators have come (and many have gone) without threatening the established order of the stock photo universe. According to Melcher, however, CompassPix employs technology in a unique way that will deliver on its promise to make photo researchers jobs easier. Most importantly, though suppliers need not upload their imagery to CompassPix, it uses a networking technology that allows the researcher to complete the image licensing transaction and download a high-res image within the CompassPix environment and without having to refer to the supplier’s site. Melcher says it takes about an hour to hook up a new supplier to the CompassPix system.
The company will take a two-pronged approach to reach buyers. Individual and small-business art-buyers will have access to CompassPix.com which will allow them to search the databases of all those suppliers signed with CompassPix via one portal. The company also offers corporate clients the ability to create their own customized search portals. For example, a sports magazine publisher might set up their own CompassPix search portal which only retrieves results from suppliers of sports imagery. This may allow CompassPix to succeed where others (think ImageGrabber) may have failed. When CompassPix signs on an important corporate client to use its customizable portal technology, it may become difficult for the big three (Getty, Corbis, Jupiter), who have always shunned aggregators, to pass on the chance to participate. So far, the company has signed on the following known, and less-known, suppliers:
All Medic, Animal Press, Cubo Images, DJV, Focus, Granger, Imago, Interfoto, Isifa, Magnum, Mauritius, Red Dot, Russian Look, Ullstein.
Melcher comes to the job with considerable experience in the industry having served most recently as Vice President of Sales at DigitalRailroad, and having previously worked at Hachette Filipacchi Photo Group, Gamma, Rapho, and Abaca US. He also publishes a well-regarded photo industry blog titled “Thoughts of a Bohemian.” As of this writing, much of the CompassPix web-site remains “under construction.”
Web: www.compasspix.com
Posted in: News, Stock Art Buyers, Stock Photo Companies
Comments(1)
post a comment »Zave Smith, June 01, 2007 [#]
While Mr. Melcher brings considerable experence and knowlage to this new venture the basic premise is that images are bought is one that has been proven to be less successsful. Images are sold not bought. Why has Getty been so successful? Because there are Getty sales reps who sleep under many an art buyers desk.
We have witness many a great stock companies start up and then wither on the vine because they were not able to field enough sales reps for a long enough time to plant the seeds for long term growth.
I hope that I am wrong, this industry can use a leveling of the playing field and a reduction of the market power held by a few big players.