StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

Getty/Carlyle - The Day After

BJP:

You're now talking about taking the company into the next phase of development and growth. What is that phase?

Jonathan Klein:

The main thing around that is: more international. We're going to be investing more in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Latin America.

The second part is to grow our ThinkStock subscription business more aggressively.

And thirdly, our editorial imagery business is really strong and we will be more aggressive in expanding that in particular internationally. We're obviously really strong in the UK and in the US, but not so internationally.

We also have some new product, in particular Connect (an API service), which has about 100 customers so far, but we only launched it a few months ago. We're thinking about being more aggressive in selling Connect through our sales force.

(Olivier Laurent/BJP, Interview with JDK)

Getty Images and Carlyle Group

[The news below from yesterday, Aug. 14, are already old. The deal is nearly done, announced today as partnership and expected to be closed by the end of this year]

[More on Bloomberg / Reuters / FT (best)]

Guys, Ferragosto is a tough time for deals like this one:

• Carlyle in Lead to Acquire Getty Images
  (Bloomberg TV + long article here)
  00:49: "there were some providers of lower quality images"

• Carlyle Tops Bids for Getty Images
  (WSJ)

• Carlyle nears deal to acquire Getty Images - sources
  (The Gurdian)

• Carlyle Is Leading Bidder for Getty Images
  (NASDAQ)

 

 

Getty, Hellman & Friedman, Bain, KKR, Texas Pacific

The usual suspects:

• H&F presses on with $4 billion Getty Images sale: sources
  (Terra USA)

• Getty Images Auction Draws Initial Bids of Around $4 Billion
  (WSJ + comments)

Yotola

5:08 in the Yotola video. Aha.

Getty Images going public, Part II

This week it sounds:

"Hellman & Friedman, the private-equity fund owner of Getty Images, is working with Goldman Sachs (GS) and JP Morgan (JPM) to examine a possible sale or IPO of the business which was taken private four years ago, the Financial Times reports.

Five people familiar with the plans say a sale or public offering could value the business at up to $4B. Getty may draw takeover interest from private equity funds, potentially KKR (KKR), one person says."

Full story.

Martin Ellerbeck and Jake Hellbach

Well, we had Gary Shenk earlier here talking about the music licensing business & The Next Big Thing, JDK explaining crowdsourcing, how Getty had been in crowdsourcing since 2006 & A Brief History of Time to us  - turning to the other side, to the artists and the real world, Martin Ellerbeck and Jake Hellbach unveil some secrets about getting into stock footage & about the sound of nobody calling you.

 

 

sʇuǝɯʇsǝʌuı ʞɔoʇsoɹɔıɯ ǝɹoldxǝ s’ɔʌ

Mirrored content from Jim Pickerell. Hard to resist.
You will need to turn your device upside down to see the modification.

(no information though if all browsers/Fb/Tw will display the reversed headline properly)
(waiting for comments like: ",,¡op ʎǝɥʇ 'oɹǝɥ noʎ 'sǝʎ,,")

 

Jonathan Klein on Getty Images and Crowdsourcing

In the previous video with Gary Shenk it was explained to us that the market for music licensing is around $800 million, but that "the potential is really double that", which CNBC translated to a $1,5 billion market and being the Next Big Thing (for this math alone, please Occupy Wall Street again).

Here, from TC-TV at SXSW, we have Jonathan Klein saying at 2:10 that Getty Images is doing "crowdsourcing since 2006". -The broader picture here.

Again, there are so many news from other companies I see and note and follow, I just lack the time to follow them here.

 

 

Corbis CEO Gary Shenk on the Music Licensing Business

Strong assumptions at 1:10, again. But the data are more reliable.

More on GreenLight Music over here* and on GeekWire.

(*Sorry, I just lack the time to publish all press releases I receive there)

(ad from german company Siemens at the beginning, so don´t turn off immediately)

 

 

Facebook Really Goes IPO

• Facebook Files for an I.P.O. (NYT)

• Facebook IPO Filing, by the Numbers (WSJ)

• Facebook Files For $5 Billion IPO (TC)

QuickLinks For 2012-01-30

• Getty Images Music Launches GUESTLIST At Midem:
  "The company currently licenses more than 200,000 tracks per year across film, television, movie trailers, commercials and multimedia projects globally."
  Press release ⎪ Getty Images Music ⎪ midem.

Facebook Goes IPO

Baseline (and a view what happens outside of this picture business):

• Revenues from ads only:
  • $3.8bn (est.)
• Offering:
  • $10bn
• Valuation:
  • $75bn - $100bn

Source: WSJ, Facebook Readies IPO Filing

Related (from Bloomberg):

• Facebook 2010 Sales Said Likely to Reach $2 Billion (Dec.16, 2010)
• Facebook Revenue Will Reach $4.27 Billion, EMarketer Says (Sept. 20, 2011)

QuickLinks For 2012-01-19

• Just extended:
  The 50 Free Stock Media promotion from Pond5 is now running until Jan. 31th.

• Jobs shed as Getty Images absorbs iStockphoto:
  Getty Images has confirmed to BJP that 30 employees have been made redundant at iStockphoto. "We are completing the process of full functional integration across the two brands," says Getty Images' CEO Jonathan Klein. "Nonetheless, Getty Images remains committed to the vitality of the iStockphoto brand."
  The layoffs comes just a few days after Kelly Thompson announced that he was leaving Getty Images. Getty Images says: "Kelly has now decided that the time is right for him to leave the business to pursue other interests and we wish him the very best in all his future endeavours.
  Kelly's last day with the company will be January 20."
  BJP.
  Related:
  • Kelly Thompson, now SVP, PD@GI
    (Aug. 05, 2011)

• Fotolia’s new art-inspired stock photography collection:
  We’ve teamed up with deviantART to create a collection of amazing images.
  The collection features over 3,000 images, what’s even more unique, these images are exclusive to Fotolia, meaning that they are only available to Fotolia members.
  Images: The deviantART Collection on Fotolia. - More details.

Corbis Acquires NMA Group

• NYT, Corbis to Acquire NMA Group:

Corbis is expanding again by acquiring the NMA Group in LA, a pioneer in the realm of branded entertainment, which helps marketers weave products into the plots of movies and television shows. “This will greatly expand our ability to offer advertisers ways to more closely affiliate with branded entertainment,” said Gary Shenk.

NMA will operate as an autonomous unit of the entertainment division of Corbis. Mark Owens, president at NMA, will lead the division, which also includes GreenLight, the Corbis licensing consultancy that represents deceased public figures.

Norm Marshall, who founded NMA in 1979, will remain chief executive. Mr. Marshall and Mr. Shenk said they could not discuss the financial terms of the deal. “Bill has a thing about not divulging financial stuff,” Mr. Marshall said, referring to Mr. Gates, adding that Mr. Shenk had told him, “ ‘Norm, if I do it, Bill will fire me.’ ”

[Update: here´s the press release]

QuickLinks For 2011-12-22

• France-Soir, death of a newspaper:
  "Its glory days were in the 1950s and 1960s, when it sold over 1 million copies per day. The paper's finest hour came in November 1970, when it sold 2 million copies.
  Its circulation had been declining for years. According to AFP, recent circulation was only a disappointing 30,000 copies per day" (France24.com), leading to "89 job losses" (Independent).

• Adapt to survive, a photographer's view of the market today:
  "We are in a period of transition. Although too much web content generates no income for its creators, new revenue streams are gradually establishing themselves. Some sites already bring in real money from advertising, or paywall subscriptions. News websites are beginning to commission or buy in photo stories in the form of multimedia pieces (still images and sound), or web documentaries (video, stills and sound, sometimes with interactive features)."
  Freelance photog Philip Wolmuth in the BBC News.

• "Stay hungry, stay foolish": have fun with your Holiday Shopping during the Christmas Season, meeting your family & old and new friends again.

Veer, Owned by Corbis, Closes Doors in Calgary

• Veer shutting down Calgary office:
  "Veer is closing its local office, eliminating about 80 jobs as the work is moved to Seattle.
  The branch will close by the end of the year, said Jennifer Morgan, Corbis' senior director of corporate communications, as the company centralizes its operations in Washington [Seattle].
  Founded by Brad Zumwalt, [he] couldn't be reached for [a] comment.
  Veer's Calgary presence has shrunk in recent years, from a reported 150 employees in 2007 to about 100 a year ago to the 80 affected by Corbis' relocation decision."
  Calgary Herald/Kim Guttormson.
  
  So no more future lunch questions like: "How are things on the other side of town?", like during the past years, long ago.

Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera

These Germans from Berlin ... .

Some time later we will be doing this with real RED devices:

 

 

 

Shutterstock Introduces Single Image Sales

"In certain markets" for $19.

Further details ("we are currently testing this product") here and here.

Countries (by regions), in which this offer is available, including the increase in revenues, starting with Q3/2011 and in percentages of 2010 revenues, after the jump.

 

 

QuickLinks For 2011-09-28

• From the ancient Greek´s Athens to modern Beijing, some rules never change, regardless if your sympathy sticks to the company formerly known as GYI, or indeed not:
  "A small tip that I use in practice is to have a meal with the candidate and observe their interactions with others, especially people in the service industry and people less fortunate than themselves".
  Still, so many questions remain.
  Amex OPEN Forums: 9 Questions: Jonathan Klein, Getty Images.

QuickLinks For 2011-09-23

• They still can´t stop punching Corbis:
  
  Michel Puech: "If I re-read Steve Davis’ 2001 press release, that someone sent to me as a joke, and I listen to what you said yesterday, I feel that it is the same speech."
  
  Gary Shenk: "I cannot comment on what Steve Davis said in 2001 because I was not at Corbis at the time. The only thing I can say now is that there is great opportunity for us today."
  
  La Lettre de la Photographie, interview with: "Gary Shenk, the Future of Corbis !"

QuickLinks For 2011-09-06

• A Long Way To Go:
  "It is our vision to be the world's most comprehensive source of content," Shenk said, adding that 'Demotix, with its ground-breaking business model ... provides breadth and depth Corbis couldn't do alone'."
  Demotix blog, Demotix and Corbis at Perpignan's Visa Pour l'Image.
  Related:
  • Corbis Invests In Demotix Following Global Distribution Agreement
    (Aug. 24, 2011)
  • Associated Press + Corbis Images: "Superior Alternative to Getty" (Gary Shenk)
    (Aug. 23, 2011)

Hey Man - Micro or Macro or Celeb or Whatever - We Are Already There (View In Safari)

Jonathan Klein on FT.com

This general interview gets a little more interesting towards the end.

Click on image below to play or view the video here.

 

 

Associated Press + Corbis Images: "Superior Alternative to Getty" (Gary Shenk)

• AP, Corbis Team Up In Bid To Profit From Pictures (AP/NPR):

Corbis, a privately held company based in Seattle, hasn't disclosed its finances since 2007 when it named Shenk as CEO in an effort to bring in more revenue from licensing rights. At that time, Corbis had about $250 million [actually $252 million] in annual revenue.

The AP's revenue last year totaled $630.5 million, a decline of $117 million, or 16 percent, from 2008. The Corbis deal marks the latest step in the AP's effort to recover some of the revenue that it lost in the past two years as it lowered its fees to help newspapers and broadcasters cope with downturns in their own businesses.

"Now the AP and Corbis are able to provide an alternative to Getty that we feel is superior" across every key category, Corbis CEO Gary Shenk said in an interview.

• Corbis, Associated Press strike photo-sharing partnership (TechFlash):

Shenk said that Corbis and the AP analyzed each other’s focus and realized that there was only about a 10 percent overlap [hard to believe] in each other’s customer base.

AP is strong in newspapers and broadcasting companies, as well as large news portals. Corbis is strong in the magazine segment, both online and print, as well as with advertising agencies and commercial and archival customers.

The AP partnership comes just weeks after Corbis bought Splash News [and the partnership from March between Corbis and ZUMA Press]. Shenk said Corbis was not making Splash News photos available to the AP at this time. Nor will AP get access to some of Corbis’s creative content that has mostly served the advertising market.

"The partnership is limited to the United States at the moment, starting in October", writes BJP additionally.

The quoted articles above are strongly condensed. More details in the press release.

Fotolia V3, Changes of Subscription Plans

In the light of the upcoming V3 of Fotolia´s website (and the competition) some major changes were announced:

1. There will be only *one* subscription plan left in the future, instead of the Standard (L size) and the Premium (XXL size) subscription. This is for many reasons very interesting, the Premium subscription was alive little over 2 years.
   Changes with respect to contributor commissions below (without absolute re-/progressive values between percentage differences):
   
   
   
   
   
2. Videos in HD will no longer be offered in the subscription plan (like earlier in the Premium subscription), "but web resolution vids are available", in M size, counting now as five downloads.
   HD vids need to be acquired separately in the future, as single downloads.
   
   
3. Vectors, counting earlier as 3 DL, are counting now as 1 DL, and commissions for contributors were cut way stronger than for images, being in RPD now equal to images. Do your own math.
   
   
4. Further Details on Image Pricing, Vector Pricing and Video Pricing.

 

Related:

• Contributor Royalty Changes@Fotolia (Jan. 21, 2011)
• Fotolia launches Premium Subscription (July 07, 2009)
• New Fotolia Microstock Subscription (May 31, 2008); Act II; Act III.