Alamy measures

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, Bill Brooks said:

 

Agree with Matt. Small agencies are being squeezed by big agencies to make their content exclusive to the big agency.

 

Alamy is not a big agency, so may be loosing some content from smaller partner agencies who are also with Mr BIG.

 

It would seem that there is a battle in the industry over exclusivity. It is a good thing for the industry and Alamy with it's unique content, because all agencies were beginning to look the same, due to non exclusivity.

 

Here is a introductory paragraph from the public section of Jim Pickerell's website.

"Sources tell me that XXXXXX is demanding that U.S. agencies with RM images in its collection make those RM images fully exclusive through XXXXXXX. Otherwise XXXXX will terminate the Agreement. One theory for doing this is that XXXXXX wants to be able to grant exclusive licenses through e-commerce sales. If XXXXXX knows they have total control of a given image, then they would be able to grant exclusive licenses without the need to do any checking with the parent agency that represents the image to see if exclusive rights are available. This would be similar to the arrangement that XXXXXXX has with its photographers."

 

The last XXXXXX in the quote does not refer to Alamy

 

Some good points. It is definitely getting more and more difficult to tell one agency from another. Even their homepages now look the same in some cases. The copycat thing may actually have been intentional -- i.e. an attempt to confuse and lure customers away from competitors (happens all the time in nature). However, the move to "exclusivity" is going to  hit some real hurdles IMO, especially when it comes to distributors and distribution networks, which is what we might be seeing. Becoming more "exclusive" (if that is actually possible nowadays) is probably a good thing for Alamy -- and maybe even us -- in the long run, but it ain't gonna be easy.

[Bill Brooks]

36 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 

But to the G - orilla in the room?

 

wim

 

Hard to use all of those XXXX and make yourself clear at the same time. Refers to not the G-orilla in the room, but to an image exclusive agency, even smaller than Alamy.

[wiskerke]

3 hours ago, Bill Brooks said:

 

Hard to use all of those XXXX and make yourself clear at the same time. Refers to not the G-orilla in the room, but to an image exclusive agency, even smaller than Alamy.

 

I can tell you that there are similar rumors about said gorilla. However they're rumors. As usual partly true; partly false.

 

wim

[Richard Baker]

10 hours ago, wiskerke said:

 

I can tell you that there are similar rumors about said gorilla. However they're rumors. As usual partly true; partly false.

 

wim

 

Not directly Alamy business but can you share any rumours (I know, sometimes not a good idea) about G, Wim? Forgive me, mods.

[Starsphinx]

15 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Some good points. It is definitely getting more and more difficult to tell one agency from another. Even their homepages now look the same in some cases. The copycat thing may actually have been intentional -- i.e. an attempt to confuse and lure customers away from competitors (happens all the time in nature). However, the move to "exclusivity" is going to  hit some real hurdles IMO, especially when it comes to distributors and distribution networks, which is what we might be seeing. Becoming more "exclusive" (if that is actually possible nowadays) is probably a good thing for Alamy -- and maybe even us -- in the long run, but it ain't gonna be easy.

I am still of the opinion that if agencies try to go too big on exclusive they are going to open a can of worms on many subjects for the simple fact that too many photographers take such incredibly similar images of said subjects.  Exclusive is only really going to work in situations where the image is unique and unrepeatable.  OK if I go and get sunset at a local dead tree that is quite a nice silhouette then I am going to have something but if I go and take it of a well-known bridge where there are other photographers doing the same then while the image may be unique for me there are going to be other extremely similar images out there.

I will watch and wait and learn - and try to adapt to what happens.