2.4 Billion for Getty


©Russell Kaye & Sandra-Lee Phipps
Iceberg, Labrador Sea (Previously represented by Getty Images, produced over $8000 in sales in May 2005 alone - Getty offered to move it to their Royalty Free partner Punchstock where sales average $50 - no thank you very much.)

from the NY Times Deal Book Blog 2.4 Billion for Getty to the Private Equity Firm Hellman Friedman - thanks Clare

It's certainly been a downward spiral for our cash flow from the Getty Gorilla; our check this month was barely $1000 - way down from the golden days of $5000/month averages a few years ago. An interesting aside is the images Getty just returned to us last month as ones they no longer want to represent as right's managed - of course if we want to send them to their royalty free brand Punchstock, they'd love to have them. I bet. These are images that were doing very well for us in the RM world. I've never kept running totals on our images but a random look at previous sales advices came up with over $8000 in sales from one month in 2005 alone. PunchStock’s royalty-free collections are available starting at prices below $50 for low resolution images.

Needless to say, we're rapidly moving away from Getty - the new models in DIY stock photography are PhotoShelter and Digital RailRoad. We're also looking at the older agency models Alamy and Jupiter. As we're far from experts in stock, any input from you readers would be appreciated.

See also this link to this great article comparing PhotoShelter and Digital RailRoad - it's time to sit down and read it - thanks Steve Casimiro!

2 comments:

nina corvallo said...

I would recommend joining the Stock Artist Alliance if you plan on selling any kind of stock. It doesn't cost that much and it is an incredible resource & network. The more stock contributors join the better conditions will be for artists.

Russell Kaye said...

thanks Nina - good suggestion. I was a member of SAA. I was part of the 40 Getty photographers that hired Mary Luria to represent us in the initial contract negotiations with Getty that eventually became SAA. You're right, I shouldn't have let my membership lapse.