Category: Stock Photography Subscriptions
News
Haim Ariav departs Superstock
Haim Ariav, Chief Creative Officer of a21 and the President and Chief Creative Officer of SuperStock, has left the organization. According to an agreement between Ariav and the company included in an 8-K form filed by A21 on June 12, 2006, Mr. Ariav's employment with the Company terminated as of May 25, 2006. He also resigned from its Board of Directors. Pursuant to the Agreement, Mr. Ariav will receive severance package including continuation of his salary for one year and accelerated vesting of shares and stock options. Referring to Ariav's resignation from the company and the board, the 8-K form states, "The foregoing did not result from a disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices."
News
Digital Railroad expands support of PLUS Coalition
Digital Railroad has expanded its collaboration with the PLUS Coalition by raising its membership in the coalition to the highest possible level, that of Charter Sustaining Member, and has become part of the elite PLUS Leadership Circle. This announcement implies that DigitalRailroad has increased its level of financial contribution to PLUS, though the exact amount was not disclosed. The move by DigitalRailroad makes sense from several angles. Like any company engaged in the licensing of images, DR will benefit from the accomplishment of the PLUS Coalition goal to improve image licensing processes by creating an integrated system of universal licensing standards. Such standards would clearly simplify the on-line marketing and licensing of images that users of DR's technology engage in. In addition, the move raises DR's profile among the various groups already associated with PLUS, which includes potential users of DR's technology from both the photographer and the client side.
Click here to view the original press release.
News
A21 SuperStock Posts $4.7MM Loss for 2005
A21 Group, owner of SuperStock, PureStock, and Ingram Publishing, reported its 2005 full-year results, posting a net loss of $4.8MM on revenue of $9.6MM. Compared to adjusted(*) figures for 2004, this represents a 7% increase in the company’s gross sales and a near doubling of its net loss. The company’s gross profit margin decreased from 70% to 68% as its cost of revenue rose at a faster rate than revenue. Management attributes this relative increase in the cost of revenue to the normal fluctuations in the proportions of higher vs. lower commission imagery it licenses. Conversely, Selling General and Administrative expenses dropped as a percentage of revenue leading to a relatively flat negative EBITDA of $928K in 2005 vs. an adjusted $834K in 2004.
News
Getty Posts Improved Sales, Flat EBITDA for 1Q ‘06, Stock Declines
Getty Images reported gross revenue of $200.9MM for the first quarter of 2006, a 13% increase over the $178.1MM the company posted for the same quarter in '05. CEO Jonathan Klein attributed the increase to "strong growth rates in non-English speaking countries far exceeding our overall growth." At the same time, the cost of revenue rose by only 2% allowing for a three percentage point improvement in the gross profit margin from 71% on 1Q05 to 74% in 1Q06. Management attributes this growth in the gross margin to the increase in its inventory of wholly-owned material which generates no commissions payable to contributors or suppliers.
News
New VP of Creative Strategy and new Seattle office for UpperCut
Punchstock’s RM brand, Uppercut Images has promoted Benjamin Winters to the post of Vice President of Creative Strategy. Winters, who has been part of Uppercut’s creative team since 2004, has also worked for Getty Images and Imagestate. In this new position, Winters will be responsible for leading the content strategy for the RM collection. In addition, Uppercut has relocated its offices from Bainbridge Island to a new space just blocks from the Starbucks world headquarters located on First Avenue South in downtown Seattle. Click here to view the original press release.
News
iStockphoto offering 700,000 images to HP customers
The recently acquired micro-payment stock photography site iStockphoto has announced that it has signed a new deal with Hewlett Packard (HP) to offer more than 700,000 image to HP customers starting at just $1 each, via the HP In-House Marketing Portal, an online resource that provides small and medium businesses (SMBs) with tools to create marketing materials internally. “iStockphoto provides outstanding imagery for a great price,” said Vince Ferraro, vice president of marketing, LaserJet Business, HP. “By using iStockphoto’s extensive online image library combined with HP’s industry-leading color printers, small businesses can now develop professional-quality marketing and presentation materials at a fraction of the traditional time and cost.” One has to think that deals like this are exactly what Getty Images had in mind when it acquired iStockphoto. Click here to view the original press release.
News
PictureHouse stages successful Chicago debut
On April 6, 2006, PictureHouse held its first annual picture fair in Chicago, Surrounded by the impressive mosaic-tiled walls and high vaulted ceilings of the Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center in downtown Chicago, approximately fifty stock photo companies exhibited their images and other products at the trade show. An estimated 250-300 art-buyers from the Chicago area attended. The exhibitors were universally pleased with the turn-out of potential clients, given this was the first time PictureHouse had ever held an event in the Windy City. Roberta Groves, representing Philadelphia-based Robertstock and Classicstock, echoed the comments of most of the exhibitors this writer spoke with when she said "The crowds ebbed and flowed like any trade show. But, unlike the more fast-paced NY crowd, the Chicago visitors to the show actually sat and talked with us for a good ten minutes each!" Groves estimates that, of the art-buyers and picture researchers who attended the fair, about 70% represented editorial users and 30% commercial advertising. (She beleives the NYC show, which brought in a reported 600 art-buyers last November - its fifth show in that city - breaks down to about 60/40, editorial to advertising.)
The coordinator of the PictureHouse event, Deborah Free, says she's thrilled with the way the event turned out and looks forward to bringing PictureHouse back to Chicago next year.
Features
Royalty free stock photo subscription buyers guide
As a service to our readers, we have compiled a comparison-shopping list of Royalty-Free subscription services available on-line. We hope you find the comparison useful in assessing these subscription offers. As with just about anything, numbers can deceive. We include, therefore, the following observations to help clarify the information compiled about each of these products:
News
Corbis acquires architecture specialty library Beateworks
Corbis has announced the acquisition of the architecture specialty library Beateworks. Beateworks was started by Beate Chelette and includes the Royalty Free brand InsideOutPix and the Beateworks@Home collection featuring celebrities in their home environment. According to Corbis the images from Beateworks complement their existing image offerings and the collections are further complemented by Corbis' industry leading rights clearance services, which enable clients to clear celebrity rights quickly and easily. "Based on trend research and market data, we understand the demand for images of home interiors and living well," said Steve Davis, president and CEO of Corbis. "Whether it's a photo of model Naomi Campbell preparing Jamaican food on her patio, or actress Julianne Moore with her children in her New York apartment, the Beateworks collections are full of rich home images." Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. Click here to view the original press release.
News
Dreamstime launches updated website
Dreamstime.com, one of the leading micro-payment stock photography websites, has launched a new version of its previous website. The updated site features a new design and improved features to support designers and photographers. A great emphasis was also placed on the search functionality called DreamFinder, a multi-tiered, in depth search tool allowing users to search by keywords, content, photographer, model release, resolution, photos/illustrations, color/monochrome, orientation, and more. Dreamstime has also announced plans to extend buying options with different prices according to resolution, as well as a best-deal subscription opportunity and two more types of licenses ready to be included in agency’s overall offer, marking its entrance on the Rights Managed Market. Click here for more details from http://www.dreamstime.com
