Author Topic: Shutterstock just bought BigStockPhoto [Big News] (Read 17365 times)

leaf · « **on:** September 23, 2009, 07:00 »

Yup, you heard right. Shutterstock the king of the free (read non exclusive) world, who currently sits in the top position in the MSG earnings poll, just purchased the microstock agency Bigstockphoto (who currently sits in position 6 in the poll).

That gives us
Shutterstock (position 1) Owns BigStockPhoto (position 6)
While Getty owns iStockPhoto (position 2) and StockXpert (position 5)

What will happen next? This industry is changing very quickly.

From their press release

Quote

Shutterstock Announces Acquisition of BigStockPhoto

Move signals Shutterstock’s expansion into the credit-based stock photo market

New York, September 23, 2009 – Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced that it has acquired BigStockPhoto, a leading credit-based stock photo agency, headquartered in Davis, California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“BigStockPhoto is a leader in the stock photo industry, and an excellent fit for Shutterstock as we expand into the credit-based market,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “This addition will enable Shutterstock to better satisfy the diverse payment preferences of stock photo buyers worldwide.”

According to the deal, BigStockPhoto will remain a separate entity, and Shutterstock plans to grow the company’s global presence by investing heavily in marketing, infrastructure and user experience.

BigStockPhoto was founded in 2004 to provide an alternative to high-priced stock photography, and to create a marketplace for photographers to sell their work. In addition to its diverse library of 3.7 Million royalty-free photos and vectors, the agency has created a vibrant community of image buyers and submitters from around the world.

What does that mean for the photographer? It is hard to say. Shutterstock said in the press release that they plan to keep BigStockPhoto as a seperate entity but that doesn't mean that they won't combine their image galleries. If they did that, besides the potential mess it would create, it would give us one less site to have to upload to while keeping the same number of sales avenues open.

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:03 »

Wow. Never a dull moment.

Peter · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:11 »

Funny thing:

I am 3 years in microstock busines, and dint have account on BigStock. Just 10 days ago I created account there, and uploaded about 30 photos.

LOL. Should I stop uploading, or upload double files that are allready on SS?

LOL!

gostwyck · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:12 »

Very interesting! Thanks for the heads-up.

One good thing, as far as I'm concerned, it does suggest that Jon is not intent on selling out of SS any time soon.

SS has done a brilliant job to build themselves up to the size they are so it will be fascinating to see what happens when they apply their funding and know-how to BigStock.

Hopefully this will make it less likely that StockXpert will be killed off too.

MicrostockExp · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:14 »

Did not see this one coming:) I wonder where do SS benefit in buying BigStock only the credit base thing

leaf · « **Reply #5 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:15 »

Quote from: Peter on September 23, 2009, 07:11

Funny thing:

I am 3 years in microstock busines, and dint have account on BigStock. Just 10 days ago I created account there, and uploaded about 30 photos. LOL. Should I stop uploading, or upload double files that are allready on SS? LOL!

By the sounds of it, we probably won't notice any change. It sounds good that BigStockPhoto may get a serious increase in marketing budget though.

Lcjtripod · « **Reply #6 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:17 »

Leaf

Do you think that my 2500 images on BigStock will soon be available from both sites?

I knew that something was happening at BigStock. New higher cash out amount, sudden very slow sales and approval time are standing still.

Thanks for anyones opinion on this!

-Larry

kaycee · « **Reply #7 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:18 »

Just wait and see what's gonna happen.....

Clivia · « **Reply #8 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:20 »

Wow, that was a shock!
If the stock sites keep merging like this we may end up with one big site!

I hope they do keep Bigstock alive and trading. It would be a shame to lose them, they are a good little earner for me.

Lcjtripod · « **Reply #9 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:29 »

Copyied info from Big Stoc Photo forum:

BigStockPhoto now part of Shutterstock family
by admin on Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:03 pm

Dear BigStockPhoto Contributors,

This morning I have the pleasure of announcing the acquisition of
BigStockPhoto by Shutterstock Images. We are excited to add a
credit-based product to our line up of best-in-industry subscription
options. Though we studied the possibility of building a credit site
from scratch, in the end we decided that acquiring and building upon
the momentum of a solid brand like Bigstockphoto is the best way to
deliver this new product to our customers. As you all know,
Shutterstock has pioneered many products that have been duplicated in
the industry: we offered the first and by far the most successful
crowdsourced subscription stock photo product, we built the first
footage microstock product, and we were the first commercial stock
photo site to crowdsource editorial content. We still feel strongly
that subscription solutions offer the best value, but we also
recognize that some customers prefer to buy content through credits.
We want to work with those customers to better understand and meet
their content needs. Acquiring BigStock is the first step.

More than anything, we're excited to bring the things Shutterstock is
known for - our high quality content, great site design, precision
search tools, and saavy marketing - to the BigStock brand, the
website, and the product line. Be prepared to see a huge marketing
push, a redesigned website, and the type of sales volume that you are
used to seeing at Shutterstock. This won't happen overnight, but we
expect the trajectory will be the same as Shutterstock. What we did
with subscriptions - we plan to do with credits.

I hope all of you are as excited as we are that Bigstockphoto is now
part of the Shutterstock family. Tim and Dawn Donahue and their team
have built a great product, and we plan to make it better than ever
for image buyers and sellers around the world. We hope you will
continue to allow us to represent your great content on both
Shutterstock and BigStockPhoto and we look forward to working with you
in the months and years ahead.

Jon Oringer, Founder/CEO
Shutterstock Images

Re: BigStockPhoto now part of Shutterstock family
by admin on Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:04 pm

Dear BigStockPhoto Buyers and Contributors,

Above is a huge announcement regarding the acquisition of BigStockPhoto by Shutterstock.

We have been looking for ways to grow BigStockPhoto far beyond it's current status and we are thrilled to have the expertise of Jon Oringer and the entire Shutterstock team taking us there. BigStockPhoto has grown to the point where it needs infrastructure and guidance to grow significantly, and we feel that Shutterstock is the perfect team to help us get there. I will continue to run the site in the same manner as before, so you probably won't feel any changes right away.

Dawn and I want to thank everyone for your incredible support and participation at BigStockPhoto over the years, and to encourage you to become even more involved as BigStockPhoto grows to the next exciting level.

With gratitude,

Tim and Dawn Donahue
BigStockPhoto

I am glad that Tim and Dawn will still be at BigStock running things as I do like them and trust them to give it their all!

I wish them good luck and a bright future for all BigStock members. (yeah, even me!)

-Larry

ozbandit · « **Reply #10 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:39 »

I think this can only be good news that will hopefully see BS lift out of the doldrums and start earning some real money!

Dan · « **Reply #11 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:56 »

Just sold my first pic on BS Sept 4th. Just hope this won't go like Snapvillage when they did thier thing with Veer. My pics were gone for good on that one.

designalldone · « **Reply #12 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:01 »

Wow, with all these announcements, this is a great time to be an independent microstocker.

Just out of interest (having never signed up to bigstock), do they have a tie-in period for contributors images?

cybernesco · « **Reply #13 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:08 »

I think this is great news!!!!

Denis

Opla · « **Reply #14 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:16 »

Interesting, thanks!

epantha · « **Reply #15 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:28 »

Question from SS forum: "For those of us who are not on BigStock - would it make sense to start uploading our images there, or will you eventually copy them there?"

No immediate plans - so best to upload to both. We'll make sure to make it worth your while

Jon

Dreamframer · « **Reply #16 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:35 »

I got portfolios on both sites with about the same number of images (20 images more on BigStock). I really hope SS will make some marketing moves that will bring us more buyers.

massman · « **Reply #17 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:40 »

Quote from: designalldone on September 23, 2009, 08:01

Wow, with all these announcements, this is a great time to be an independent microstocker.

Just out of interest (having never signed up to bigstock), do they have a tie-in period for contributors images?

Yes, 90 days.

Zeus · « **Reply #18 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:44 »

I think there are too many small players in the micro business dragging down prices. However most of them are easy enough to ignore. What is not good, and I base this in what has happened in the macro market, is too much amalgamation of the big players. It does not serve the photographer well at all.

lisafx · « **Reply #19 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:01 »

Wow!!! Really VERY EXCITING NEWS!!

Thanks for the headsup Leaf, and for posting both letters Larry. I hadn't seen them yet.

I am really happy to learn that Dawn and Tim will be staying on the run BigStock. They are wonderful people and have always treated contributors very well.

Which is something they have in common with Jon Oringer. Add to that Jon's business savvy and I think it will be a very potent combination, and a strong counterweight to Getty.

This seems like great news to me!

gostwyck · « **Reply #20 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:19 »

Quote from: Zeus on September 23, 2009, 08:44

What is not good, and I base this in what has happened in the macro market, is too much amalgamation of the big players. It does not serve the photographer well at all.

Good point but I don't think we're at danger levels yet. There are still 4 distinct major players in IS, SS, DT and FT and we also have Veer (Corbis) trying to muscle in on micro too. It's probably only a matter of time before Alamy comes to the party too __ either by choice or the lack of.

cthoman · « **Reply #21 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:20 »

This is great news!

I wonder if this will affect our OD's at Shutterstock.

ca2hill · « **Reply #22 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:24 »

Best news about this is that it would seem to indicate that Shutterstock is not going to get bought out by Getty anytime soon.

As been mentioned by others, fewer major player agencies it is not good for us. Hopefully Dreamstime and Fotolia stay independent from the Getty and Shutterstock conglomerates. That will be best for all contributors.

disorderly · « **Reply #23 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:29 »

I'm optimistic that this will work in our favor. Both agencies have treated me well, with few if any moments of what? decision making. The only problem with BigStock is the revenue it generates; a serious marketing effort could make all the difference. If they see synergy, I'm happy to sit back and watch them, ummmm, synergies.

rmarinello · « **Reply #24 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:32 »

Hi all,
If they will invest in marketing and infrastructure, it could be good for BigStock's contributors... I suggest them to invest also in a restyled home page ;-)
Just an Alexa Rank joke:
istock + stockxpert = 342 + 6239 = 6581
shutter + bigstock = 1208 + 5347 = 6555
Cheers,
roberto

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