PA Media Group acquires Alamy

[woofit 5]

Personally I think I will stop contributing to my small portfolio I have on here until I see which way the wind is blowing and what the future holds. I am so glad I went non exclusive a few months back as the 2 sites I now contribute to, earn more for me than Alamy ever has, so I will concentrate on uploading in their direction for the forseeable future.

Alamy was becoming increasingly Microstock in any case for the short period of time I have been on here, as I believe they were losing their sense of direction, so were desperately trying to grab any sort of income that they could find, to prop up their decline in revenue.

Unfortunately the "Good Old Day's" are no longer here (and haven't been here for quite some time), so its time to adapt and change for Alamy Contributers, and start to prepare for going towards a more MS type of model.....or of course,  just stop, sit back and reflect on the past good old times.

[geogphotos 3,198]

On balance I'm optimistic. I think that a change was needed.

 

For some time it has seemed to me that the entrepreneurial spirit of Alamy's owners was being directed elsewhere. They had taken Alamy as far as they could. Twenty years is a long time and they want new pastures to develop. 

 

No doubt there will be some bumps ahead but let's wait and see what happens. 

[Inchiquin 894]

58 minutes ago, David Pimborough said:

 

Be careful what you wish for 🙄

 

I would not object if it raised the overall quality (and the profile) of the collection in the eyes of buyers, who might then be willing to pay a little more for them.

 

Alan

[John Walker 272]

It might mean the end of this forum?

[Iain Masterton 920]

I've been in touch with the NUJ and raised my concerns. They confirm that are also concerned and are discussing the matter.

[AlbertSnapper 2,881]

2 minutes ago, John Walker said:

It might mean the end of this forum?

😮  😭

 

....

 

As the PA shareholders contain several of the UK newspaper groups, maybe images will be supplied to them for less than peanuts to save those publications more money ?

 

I guess that if PA alienate too many contributors by cutting  commission/unfavourable contracts and start to lose the supply of fresh images, they can always sell the Alamy business again, and just keep the historical/archive images, or other bits that they want.

 

I'll just wait and see. If one door closes, then another door opens (usually !).

[geogphotos 3,198]

29 minutes ago, AlbertSnapper said:

😮  😭

 

....

 

As the PA shareholders contain several of the UK newspaper groups, maybe images will be supplied to them for less than peanuts to save those publications more money ?

 

I guess that if PA alienate too many contributors by cutting  commission/unfavourable contracts and start to lose the supply of fresh images, they can always sell the Alamy business again, and just keep the historical/archive images, or other bits that they want.

 

I'll just wait and see. If one door closes, then another door opens (usually !).

 

 

Yes that might happen but on the other hand they are running PA as a press agency supplying those very same newspapers at the moment. The editorial decisions of editors and picture researchers encompass all sources at the moment including competing news agencies. They don't just use PA images, and I don't assume that PA images are super cheap.

 

They are distinct company brands under the same umbrella. Sure, this is vertical integration but I don't think it seems like the start of some sort of monopoly for UK media publications all using only one source. 

Edited February 12, 2020 by geogphotos

[Sultanpepa 1,018]

50 minutes ago, John Walker said:

It might mean the end of this forum?

I suspect that might be the case. Especially if there's wholesale changes to be made to contracts.

[meanderingemu 1,309]

31 minutes ago, AlbertSnapper said:

😮  😭

 

....

 

As the PA shareholders contain several of the UK newspaper groups, maybe images will be supplied to them for less than peanuts to save those publications more money ?

 

I guess that if PA alienate too many contributors by cutting  commission/unfavourable contracts and start to lose the supply of fresh images, they can always sell the Alamy business again, and just keep the historical/archive images, or other bits that they want.

 

I'll just wait and see. If one door closes, then another door opens (usually !).

 

 

By definition it just got cheaper, since part of the fee should be getting back to them as shareholders.  

 

the first issue they have to address now is they have 2 competing arms providing, some with overlapping subjects. If you reduce the cost from one arm making it more attractive, and pushing buyers the Alamy way, this makes PA side less profitable.  

 

 

i have been in takeovers (different industry) where this has happened, and in the end the acquirer's existing model is the one that took a hit

[sb photos 374]

"The European Commission (EC) examines mergers of businesses with EU and global turnover above a certain size, including those that may have an impact in the UK. Mergers that have their main impact in the UK can be transferred to the CMA for examination, and some mergers that do not meet the EC’s thresholds may nonetheless be transferred to it by the merging businesses or the CMA."

 

I suspect the PA acquisition value was below the level where it may have been considered for investigation.

[Shergar 211]

The writing was on the wall back in 2017 when James made his first escape attempt and announced Andy Harding was the new CEO . That didn't work out and James found himself back  at the helm again. I guess he was wanting a new challenge and now he has the time and hopefully money to try something new. Who can blame him? I wish the guy good luck.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Shergar

[Shergar 211]

I would think a couple of these names are known to our UK photographers .

 

https://pamediagroup.com/board/

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Shergar

[Phil 126]

9 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Let's hope not. Closing the NYC office would be a big mistake IMO. The US is still by far the best market for images.

 

 

Yes - a concern is what does Alamy''s acquisition by PA mean for contributors and customers outside UK/Europe.

 

PA's website tells us that they have a business presence across 12 sites in the UK, Europe, Australia.   No mention of USA or North/South America.

So PA's and likely their corporate shareholder's businesses have had a definite UK/Euro focus .  

 

Alamy's on-line image licensing of course has no international physical boundaries. The NYC office was intended to expand & focus Alamy's US marketing/sales efforts with a physical presence in a US media hub.  Contributors took a commission reduction supposedly to fund it.  Did it help US licensing sales?   Not sure there is a way to find out - at least not that Alamy has shared.

 

The obvious hope is that PA will continue Alamy's NYC office. Even more optimistically PA could use Alamy's NYC office as a springboard to enhance and expand Alamy's sales efforts in  US/N & S American markets.  Question is will they do either or both?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Phil

[Shergar 211]

Alamy has told us before that the NYC office out performs the UK I believe.

[Doc 2,157]

18 minutes ago, Shergar said:

Alamy has told us before that the NYC office out performs the UK I believe.

I understand that to be true, and would hope that PA would want to build on that rather than shut the NYC office

 

Kumar

[Shergar 211]

7 minutes ago, Doc said:

I understand that to be true, and would hope that PA would want to build on that rather than shut the NYC office

 

Kumar

I think the NYC office operation is a perfect fit for PA . 

[riccarbi 116]

15 minutes ago, Doc said:

I understand that to be true, and would hope that PA would want to build on that rather than shut the NYC office

As many noted, PA is extremely oriented towards the UK market and media. I'm not totally sure they might be interested to expand their activities in the US.
There are two possibilities.
PA acquired Alamy to provide a larger and more diverse picture collection (PA images+Alamy) mainly to their UK clients (and shareholders). They are not much interested in the US market. They will possibly shut down the NY office, sooner or later.
PA acquired Alamy (also) with a view to expand their activities outside the UK. They will probably keep or even enlarge the US office.

Edited February 12, 2020 by riccarbi

[Johnnie5 402]

https://photoarchivenews.com/news/pa-media-group-acquires-alamy-the-global-stock-imagery-business/

[Shergar 211]

14 minutes ago, Johnnie5 said:

https://photoarchivenews.com/news/pa-media-group-acquires-alamy-the-global-stock-imagery-business/

Clive Marshall, "Chief Executive of PA Media Group said: “This transformational acquisition will significantly increase our customer base and provide the PA Media Group with a strong presence in the international market for the first time"

 

So far so good!

[Brian Humek 6]

On 11/02/2020 at 11:16, geogphotos said:

Yes we contributors have concerns but.....thinking about Alamy staff and hope that their jobs and future are secure.

 

It must be unsettling for them.

 

I am sure that we wish them all the best.

I'm with you in regard to Alamy employees. It seems that there will be some overlap of job positions and I always feel bad when mergers leave some employees without jobs. I've never had anything but pleasant experiences with CR employees, so I wish them the best. I also am hoping the best for contributors.  

[Marianne 941]

8 hours ago, imageplotter said:

 

Yes I do that, too. My comment was more regarding direct sales on the news side.

 
yes I also shoot for magazines & newspapers in the NY metro area & have had some success with local papers elsewhere when I’m visiting an area and know that I will be shooting an event of interest to local news editors. When I’m shooting on spec it’s stock rather than assignment work but really kind of a hybrid I guess. The point is to get my work distributed as widely as I can. I can do better contacting local US media than just putting my photos up as stock (or formerly with live news)  but Alamy has been a good source of licensing for many news photos in secondary markets. 

[Marianne 941]

2 hours ago, Shergar said:

Clive Marshall, "Chief Executive of PA Media Group said: “This transformational acquisition will significantly increase our customer base and provide the PA Media Group with a strong presence in the international market for the first time"

 

So far so good!

encouraging

[MizBrown 657]

9 hours ago, Inchiquin said:

I suppose one thing PA might consider doing is to spend Alamy's profits for the first year on hiring a few experienced editors to cull the Alamy collection.

 

Alan

 

One cheap way to do this would be to cut out the bottom 10% or 20% of contributors in terms of ratio of sales to photos in their portfolios.  Wouldn't require hiring anyone with skills at all, but would eliminate people who can produce niche images that occasionally have people looking for very specific local items.   I just had six zooms on a set of Nicaraguan sign language photos taken at a residence for deaf kids in Jinotega.  I'd kinda like to reshoot there with better lighting gear, but I think I've got the only photos of Nicaraguan sign language users on the site.  But perhaps that's not enough.   I understand this happens at another stock agency.

[Marianne 941]

56 minutes ago, Brian Humek said:

I'm with you in regard to Alamy employees. It seems that there will be some overlap of job positions and I always feel bad when mergers leave some employees without jobs. I've never had anything but pleasant experiences with CR employees, so I wish them the best. I also am hoping the best for contributors.  

Alamy employees have always been polite and prompt with their responses doing their best to help when questions or problems arise. I join you in wishing them well. 
 

I really hope they expand their presence in North America. More than half of my US book sales have been via Alamy & in addition to a few US advertising uses they’ve been my highest licenses here & some among the highest licenses anywhere. 
 

fingers crossed.  

[Richard Tadman 79]

1 hour ago, Brian Humek said:

I'm with you in regard to Alamy employees. It seems that there will be some overlap of job positions and I always feel bad when mergers leave some employees without jobs. I've never had anything but pleasant experiences with CR employees, so I wish them the best. I also am hoping the best for contributors.  

 

Surely the Alamy staff will be protected under the TUPE regulations?  This is specifically designed to protect staff transferring from one company to another and securing their rights and maintaining their contact terms.
https://www.tssa.org.uk/en/Your-union/your-workplace/employment-rights/tupe--a-guide-to-the-regulations.cfm