Today PA Media Group, the UK-based news and information business, has announced the acquisition of Alamy.

"Please be assured that it's business as usual at Alamy"

I've never heard that one before.

James West, co-founder of Alamy, said:

"PA Media Group is a natural home for Alamy. As well as having one of the UK's most comprehensive photo archives, PA shares our ethos of integrity and quality, and has an excellent reputation built over 150 years.

"Alamy can look forward to a fantastic future as part of the PA Media Group."

Quote from: steheap on February 11, 2020, 15:37
James West, co-founder of Alamy, said:

...PA shares our ethos of integrity and quality, and has an excellent reputation built over 150 years...

LOL PA media is largely owned by the DailyMail and News UK (i.e. News Corp). They haven't been bought out for than 2 minutes and it's started already.

 What next. DailyMail and News UK (i.e. News Corp) to be charged 5c for High Res multi use Photos. 

Well they will be licensing our work for their publications through a company they also own, no conflict of interest there for a company with such an "ethos of integrity". I am sure they will be insuring we are getting the very best deal.

By the way, have you guys received the Feb payment yet?

Usually I received the payment in the first week of the month.

No.

Oh well stand by for more exciting news which involves contributors being screwed yet again

Quote from: Bad Robot on February 11, 2020, 19:06
Oh well stand by for more exciting news which involves contributors being screwed yet again

don't forget:   Alamy. Philanthropy is in our DNA

The Daily Mail is owned by Viscount Rothermere, who is a right wing tax avoider, his father supported Adolf Hitler before the Second World War and his son who now owns the Daily Mail is well known to hold his fathers views.

In the UK he has Non-dom status, which means he is living and working in the UK, without paying all the tax he should, it is a basically a tax dodge status that he has agreed with the Inland Revenue, goodness knows how much this has cost the British Public over the years in lost revenue, probably in the Billions.

Non of this is good news for Alamy contributers, as you can see from the character of the man, in no time at all he will be doing a Getty on them.

Looks like owners of Alamy took the money and run and couldn't care less what happens to contributers
I suppose we will find out soon enough

Quote from: Orchidpoet on February 11, 2020, 18:34
By the way, have you guys received the Feb payment yet?

Usually I received the payment in the first week of the month.

Yes, 6th Feb, direct bank payment.
But you're not the only one:
https://www.microstockgroup.com/alamy-com/alamy-all-my-sales-are-from-partners-in-january-(30-royalties)-strange/msg545466/#msg545466
Contact their support.

And on the thread subject, I fully expect no good to come from this. 

That 20% drop in commission must have made them very tasty.  What's the going rate for an Alamy these days?

Thanks, Sue.

I could see that the money left Alamy on Feb 3, just it hasn't reached me. Is Alamy so busy counting big proceeds of sales to PA that it forgets about paying us?

I have contacted Alamy support. No reply yet.

Quote from: Orchidpoet on February 11, 2020, 18:34
By the way, have you guys received the Feb payment yet?

Usually I received the payment in the first week of the month.

Yes. My bank received the money on Feb 6th

But on the thread topic, the only uncertainty is how long it will take for things to change for the worse for contributors at Alamy, not whether they will change. Acquisitions always make rosy promises up front and tighten the screws shortly thereafter.

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on February 12, 2020, 05:46

Quote from: Orchidpoet on February 11, 2020, 18:34
By the way, have you guys received the Feb payment yet?

Usually I received the payment in the first week of the month.

Yes. My bank received the money on Feb 6th

But on the thread topic, the only uncertainty is how long it will take for things to change for the worse for contributors at Alamy, not whether they will change. Acquisitions always make rosy promises up front and tighten the screws shortly thereafter.

And no doubt Alamy will be expected to pay for its acquisition so the money has to come from somewhere.

No doubt the philanthropic causes will go and then they'll come after the contributors.

Does this acquisition change anything for me? In terms of commission rates/contracts/processes, etc?

No, it doesn't. Alamy continues to operate as usual.

Alamy prides itself on offering a better commission rate than most other agencies. Will PA Media Group continue to offer the same commission rates to Alamy's existing contributors?

There are no plans to change that.

How do PA Images' commission rates compare with Alamy's?

The two businesses operate different models – for instance, PA Images' relationships are mainly with agencies while Alamy works with a wider community of individual photographers. As such, there is no like-for-like comparison between the two business' payment structures.

Are there plans to reach parity? If so, in what direction?

There is no like-for-like comparison between Alamy's and PA Images' payment structures. The two businesses continue to operate separately.

Are Alamy's contributor images going into the PA Images archive?

Alamy's and PA Images' archives will sit alongside each other. There are no plans to add Alamy's portfolio to the PA Archive.

Will Alamy's contributor images be distributed via the PA newswire?

There are no plans to distribute Alamy's contributor imagery via the PA newswire.

Will Alamy content be sold by PA Images?

At present, Alamy contributor sales continue to be managed within the Alamy platform and via Alamy's distributors. However, ways of working will be reviewed over the coming months and we will consider what elements to integrate and which to keep separate.

Will there be any change to the way rights are managed?

No, there will not. The PA Media Group has long history of building successful relationships with photographers and photography agencies and ensuring that rights are managed.

For the full FAQ on the above announcement, please visit the following page: https://pamediagroup.com/faqs-pa-media-group-acquires-alamy/

Best,

Alamy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWeLd1clK5s&feature=youtu.be

James West on YouTube

Personal Opinion: There are no plans to change that. In no way does that mean, there will not be changes to commissions, sales outlets. what's sold where! Just that the plans haven't been solidified or announced yet.

Expect Change, wait and see, but as most of us have experienced over the years, this will more likely mean less into our pockets and more into PA medias accounts. Alamy was a charity, they paid themselves and money to the charity. PA Media is for profit.

Here's something that could change? Buyers pay in advance! No more waiting, self reporting or chasing slow to pay accounts. And I wouldn't mind more distribution of News and Editorial images to more media outlets. I can hope for some small positive changes, can't I?

Wait and see


https://www.alamy.com/blog/pa-media-group-acquires-alamy

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 12, 2020, 15:53

Here's something that could change? Buyers pay in advance! No more waiting, self reporting or chasing slow to pay accounts. And I wouldn't mind more distribution of News and Editorial images to more media outlets. I can hope for some small positive changes, can't I?

https://www.alamy.com/blog/pa-media-group-acquires-alamy

You think there is a possibility that Alamy are going to chase newspapers that own Alamy for money owing so that we can be payed sooner?

As for the rest the stable door has been shut after horse has bolted.  They got Alamy to reduce commissions nearer to industry standards before they dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on the deal.

Alamy has never been relevant to me in terms of sales, so whatever. Especially since the greedy commission cut last year -considering this buyout it was nothing more than a cash grab by management- I don't really care what happens to Alamy.

I expect them to go the same route Getty has. We won't benefit from the new management, that's for sure.

Makes me very glad I never bothered with Alamy. Sometimes just keeping one's operation small and simple is the best approach.

Quote from: marthamarks on February 12, 2020, 21:32
Makes me very glad I never bothered with Alamy. Sometimes just keeping one's operation small and simple is the best approach.

Probably wouldn't have worked for you, Martha. Never was a great outlet for wildlife.

I alone sold more pics of African Wild Dogs on iStock in a year than Alamy had searches on 'African Wild Dog' in that same year. And there are loads of great pics of APHD on iStock that must surely have sold a lot more than mine did.

Quote from: ShadySue on February 12, 2020, 22:44

Quote from: marthamarks on February 12, 2020, 21:32
Makes me very glad I never bothered with Alamy. Sometimes just keeping one's operation small and simple is the best approach.

Probably wouldn't have worked for you, Martha. Never was a great outlet for wildlife.

I alone sold more pics of African Wild Dogs on iStock in a year than Alamy had searches on 'African Wild Dog' in that same year. And there are loads of great pics of APHD on iStock that must surely have sold a lot more than mine did.

Glad to hear that, because there was a time when I thought I'd give Alamy a shot. (Or a bunch of my shots.) Never did it, however. Happy!

Quote from: marthamarks on February 13, 2020, 03:09

Quote from: ShadySue on February 12, 2020, 22:44

Quote from: marthamarks on February 12, 2020, 21:32
Makes me very glad I never bothered with Alamy. Sometimes just keeping one's operation small and simple is the best approach.

Probably wouldn't have worked for you, Martha. Never was a great outlet for wildlife.

I alone sold more pics of African Wild Dogs on iStock in a year than Alamy had searches on 'African Wild Dog' in that same year. And there are loads of great pics of APHD on iStock that must surely have sold a lot more than mine did.

Glad to hear that, because there was a time when I thought I'd give Alamy a shot. (Or a bunch of my shots.) Never did it, however. Happy!

Just because it didn't work for you, it doesn't mean it didn't and still does for others.  I'm no longer earning $10.000 (net) per year on alamy alone because now I'm earning a small fraction of that. But it's still better than most micros.

Quote from: MicroVet on February 13, 2020, 06:30
Just because it didn't work for you, it doesn't mean it didn't and still does for others.

Martha never submitted there, she never said it didn't work for her.
However, I suggested it wouldn't have been a good fit for her (as I know her port has a high proportion of high quality wildlilfe images), based on personal experience, anecdotal reports from others and - in particular - watching Alamy Measures for searches over the years.

Quote
I'm no longer earning $10.000 (net) per year on alamy alone because now I'm earning a small fraction of that. But it's still better than most micros.

And last year I earned 2.5x as much on iS as I did on Alamy. More files on Alamy, each file exclusive on each site, and similar subjects on each. Actually, every year I've earned at least 2x as much from iS.
We can't tell anything sensible by other people's ports, as we all have such different subject matter.
(iS is falling for me even faster than Alamy is. Last  year Alamy had more dls but less $$ than previous years. So far this year, dls are down on Alamy.)

I'm just about to start deleting files from Alamy, starting with wildlife.